Luftwaffe Over Manchester
The blitz years 1940-1944 by Peter J C Smith

Neil Richardson 2003. A4. 76 pp. 75 illus.

A surname index to the names of casualties named in this
publication can be accessed by clicking HERE

Manchester suffered three broad phases of air attack during World War 2. There was a year of persistent and sometimes heavy air raids between July 1940 and June 1941. This was followed by a period of more intermittent and much lighter attacks up to August 1942. The final phase was one of inactivity marked only by a solitary attack by V1 flying bombs (doodlebugs) early on Christmas Eve 1944.

Appendices 13-15 are particularly valuable since they include lists of names of the deceased, addresses and, in the case of those wounded, the hospital to which they were taken for each raid.
 

The book was Reviewed in the Manchester Genealogist:

Readers who, like myself, have reached 'late middle age' will recall the euphoria, understandable at the time, with which the vast majority of the public greeted the return from Munich of Neville Chamberlain, waving his 'Peace for our time' sheet of paper, as he stepped off the aeroplane returning him from his meeting with Adolph Hitler in September 1938. Whether or not the Prime Minister believed in the agreement the government certainly did not become complacent. Some three years previously, when it became obvious that Germany was intent on expanding its power, Parliament had initiated a policy for the development of air raid precautions (ARP) and, however we view Chamberlain's role it at least gave us a twelve month moratorium, plus a further ten month period of enemy inactivity, in which to intensify this policy.

All local authorities were instructed to submit ARP proposals for their communities but preparation was far from easy in view of the many aspects of defence requirements needing consideration. Manchester, a month prior to the Munich affair, was the first to submit its proposals to the government and these were so highly regarded that many other authorities used them as the model for their own arrangements. The story of these preparations, in great detail, forms the basis of the first chapter of this book. By the outbreak of war Manchester had prepared several deep air raid shelters including the unused underground section of the Salford to Manchester canal now visible as the entrance to G-MEX car park. Training for the public was also being organised because I recall attending, in 1937 or the following year, an anti-gas course organised by the Post Office Engineering Department, presumably on the advice of the local authority, and receiving instruction in the use of the gas mask and how to test for gas.

This section of the book is followed by an equally detailed description of the parallel development of military operations and tells of the formation of the Royal Observer Corps, barrage balloons, anti-aircraft batteries and so forth. A detailed picture of the advanced state of production in the re-armament programme on all fronts, and of his visits to various training establishments, is provided by H.V.Morton, in the description of his tour of October 1939. (I Saw Two Englands – H. V. Morton, 1942)

The third chapter tells us of the build up of the enemy forces including types of aircraft and the early guidance systems used by their pilots to locate their targets. The following seven chapters cover the history from beginning to end, of enemy action over the three areas consisting of Manchester and its surrounds, Salford for its docks complex and Stretford because of its proximity to the highly concentrated industrial estate of Trafford Park where many companies had switched their production to satisfy military requirements. Details of most of the damage and associated casualties appear to have been included highlighting the amount of research the author has carried out.

The history concludes with statistics contained in 15 appendices ranging from details of fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft defence, enemy aircraft types and those destroyed, enemy bombs dropped and the resulting fires and damage to property during the 'blitz' and a log of air raid alerts in Manchester between 1940 and 1945. The final three of these appendices comprise lists of casualties in Manchester, Stretford and Salford respectively including the address of the victims and, in most cases the hospital at which injuries were treated. At the risk of being accused of repetition I must reiterate that the amazing detail displayed in the book will stagger the reader's imagination. (Walter Bee)