How we reported the Clydebank Blitz
BETWEEN the 13-15 March 1941, modern Scotland met its darkest hour as up to 200 German bombers carried out a brace of devastating air raids on Clydeside.
The densely-populated town of Clydebank, a prime industrial target, was practically annihilated in an event that would come to be known as the Clydebank Blitz.
As was common for wartime news reports, The Scotsman on Saturday 15 March conveyed the bare facts without delving into precise details such as place names, industries destroyed and the massive number of casualties suffered.
The Blitz took the lives of 528 people and left several hundred more injured. Tens of thousands of Clydebank residents were left homeless with just seven homes remaining undamaged.
National morale would surely have flatlined had newspapers such as our own attempted to illustrate the truly bleak and disastrous reality.
In his book Luftwaffe over Scotland: a history of German air attacks on Scotland, 1939-45, amateur historian Les Taylor described the Clydebank Blitz as “the most cataclysmic event” to hit wartime Scotland. German bombers return to Scotland last night Scotland experienced its longest and most severe air raid of the war on Thursday night.
The main attack was delivered on Clydeside, where casualties and damage resulted, but some high explosives and incendiaries were also dropped in scattered areas elsewhere in Scotland,
As the evening advanced the gunfire became more and more intense, and at some stages it exceeded the volume of sound heard on the previous evening.
The night was darker and the piercing searchlights were more visible against the sky. Exploding shells made brilliant splashes of colour and sometimes for seconds at a time the area was as clearly lit as at midday. Once again the aeroplanes were flying at a terrific height and were invisible from the ground.
Up to a late hour in the evening, no serious damage was reported. Nearly two hours after the raid commenced it was still possible to report that no serious casualties had occurred.
A communiqué on thursday night’ s raids issued yesterday morning stated: “Last night’s enemy activity over this country was on a large scale, and was widely spread over England and Scotland.
“A heavy and prolonged attack was made on Clydeside. Some industrial buildings and many houses were damaged. Several fires were started but these were fought with determination and all were extinguished or brought under control by the early hours of this (Friday) morning.
“The number of casualties, though serious, is not thought to be heavy.”
Several tenement houses, schools, churches and other buildings suffered on Thursday night in Clydeside’s first all-night air raid, which left a trail of casualties, many of them fatal.
Caught out of doors when the raid started, many people sought safety in the nearest shelter, and, like the thousands of people who were patronising the cinema and theatre, had to remain there for hours during the heaviest and most continuous barrage heard in the area since the start of the war.
Waves of bombers loaded with high explosives and incendiaries swept over the area, which was bathed in moonlight, and were immediately met by a terrific anti-aircraft barrage.
The flash of tracer bullets indicated that our fighters were also in action. Many flares were dropped by the enemy machines, some of the chandelier type. A number of these were shot out before they reached the ground.
Following one heavy burst of gunfire, a bomber flew low with its engine running irregularly, and unconfirmed reports state that this machine and another ultimately crashed.
Clydeside went calmly about its ordinary duties yesterday after the all-night attack. So efficiently and expeditiously had the firefighting services gone into action that all the outbreaks were under control within a few hours.
A representative of The Scotsman who toured the bombed area at the height of the raid found everywhere the defence services fully mobilised to cope with any call that might be made upon them.
In areas where damage had been caused, the rescue squads quickly rushed to the scene and within minutes they had commenced their task of bringing succour to the victims.