Citizens made point that Blitz would not deter them
THE victims of the Clydeside Blitz of 1941 are rightly commemorated in March each year at Clydebank which suffered the most appalling destruction and loss of life per head of population of any town in the UK during the Blitz period.
There are so many accounts of individual heroism in Glasgow and Clydebank during that initial two night blitz on March 13 and 14, 1941, that it would take several columns to tell them.
I will give one barely believable example, as recounted in Craig Armstrong’s book Glasgow at War 1939- 45, which I highly recommend to any students of that period of Glasgow’s history.
He tells of how a bomb had wrecked 65 Craigiehall Street in Govan where members of the Ross and McGeachan families were killed.
Five days after the bomb fell, sounds could be heard in the debris.
A tunnel was quickly dug but it took a doctor, Stevan George, originally from Serbia, to dig further into the wreckage with his bare hands to find the badly injured Mrs McGeachan.
As Armstrong writes: “He placed blankets and hot water bottles around the terribly injured woman and remained with her until the rescue workers could dig down to rescue her.”
Mrs McGeachan, like almost 650 people in Glasgow, did not survive her ordeal.
Dr George worked as a well- loved family doctor in Glasgow for many years and was awarded an OBE for his service.
To me the most extraordinary display of courage was that of ordinary men and women who turned out for work on the Monday morning after the carnage of the Blitz.
Many in Clydebank came by bus from the evacuation settlements around the area as if to make a point that the Blitz was not going to deter them.
It took a few days, weeks in some cases, but gradually shipyards and factories were repaired and production was barely affected, especially of ships and munitions that were vital for the war effort.
Glasgow was not finished as a target, however. For it is not often reported that the city was bombed again in April and May.
As you can see, residential areas were targeted, as ordered by Hitler.
Firemaster Martin Chadwick recorded in his annual report: “The areas affected on April 7, 1941 were the Central, Dalmarnock, Kingston, Shawlands, Bridgeton, Whiteinch, Partick, and Clydebank districts, the fire incidents demanding the attendance of 74 pumps.
“On May 6, 1941, enemy air activity created incidents in the Central, Eastern, Northern, Dumbarton, and Bearsden districts, which required the attendance of 30 pumps.
“A further enemy attack developed the next night over the Burgh of Greenock.
“Incidents were also created in the Kelvinside, Hillfoot, and Dumbarton areas.
“From this Fire Force Area, 55 pumps were sent into action, the majority being dispatched to Greenock.”
The blitz on Greenock was particularly horrendous. Early in the raid on May 7, bombs struck Ardgowan Distillery and set ablaze three million gallons of whisky. The huge fire gave the German bombers a target and Greenock and Port Glasgow were hit by dozens of high explosive bombs plus many more incendiaries.
Up to 300 people died in and around Greenock and Port Glasgow on May 6 and 7, the last mass attack on Clydeside, with a further 120 killed in places like Drumchapel and Knightswood where the raiders jettisoned their bombs early in the face of anti- aircraft fire and the increased number of RAF night- fighter aircraft, which managed to shoot down three German planes.
Many German bombs fell on open country such as the area around Loch Thom in Renfrewshire.
That’s because an ingenious decoy operation known as Operation Starfish had created a ‘ dummy town’ at the location.
Others that protected Glasgow included those at Cochno near Faifley, Long Wood near Eaglesham and Gleniffer Braes near Paisley.
It was one of the greatest secrets of the war and it is estimated that nearly 1000 tons of bombs fell on or near the Starfish sites, of which there were eventually 237 across the UK.
Other areas were hit by jettisoned bombs because the German pilots were not as well trained or as well- equipped as the RAF and frankly, they turned tail and flew home as soon as they could.
Or else they were just not particularly good navigators – one ‘ stick’ of bombs straddled the River Leven in West Dunbartonshire near Bonhill, which would have been good aiming if it had been the correct river.
Their cowardice contrasted strongly with the courage of those on the ground, the firefighters, air raid wardens, medical staff and Home Guard members, as well as the regular forces, all showed outstanding bravery during the Clydeside Blitz.
Their cowardice contrasted strongly with the courage of those on the ground
We do not know the exact number of people killed in Glasgow during the Clydeside Blitz, not least because many bodies were never found, but I would not dispute the figure of 700 in the city alone, with at least 1000 injured.
Across the wider Glasgow area, unexploded bombs were immediately recognised as a serious problem and bomb disposal squads were a regular sight at locations across the city for many months afterwards. Unexploded bombs are still being discovered and disposed of even now.
The story of the Blitz emerged mostly by word of mouth as the press was warned not to report on the devastation wrought in Glasgow, Clydebank and Greenock.
Apart from lone raiders, Glasgow was not blitzed again during the war, thanks largely to Hitler turning his attention to the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa that began in early June 1941.
The Heinkel, Dornier and Junkers bombers that were used in the attacks on Clydeside were all switched to the Eastern Front.
Hitler’s failure to appreciate the doomed history of another dictator, Napoleon, led him to attack deep into Russia, a strategy that would eventually lose him the war.
It had a strange effect on Glasgow and Clydeside, as suddenly the vehemently anti- war communists and socialists turned tack and became some of the strongest supporters of the war effort.
There would be one ‘ lone raider’ who flew to Scotland on May 10, 1941. He ended up in Glasgow and his name was Rudolf Hess.