The Reasons Why the Major Cities of Britain Were Bombed by the Germans in 1940-1

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The Reasons Why the Major Cities of Britain Were Bombed by the Germans in 1940-1

Coventry was bombed it played a pivotal role in World War Two, as a

munitions centre and target for German air raids. The city's

character, architecture and population remain forever entwined with

war events.

In World War One, Coventry became established as a centre for the

motor industry, a business which boomed with the war's reliance on

transport. By the time war broke out again in 1939, many new factories

had been built in and around the city, and a large number of local

people were employed in the motor industry; during World War Two these

factories built cars, engines, armaments and aeroplanes, all of which

contributed to the war effort. This industrial activity made it an

obvious target for German air raids; on 14 November 1940, 500 German

bombers dropped 500 tons of explosives and nearly 900 incendiary bombs

on Coventry in just ten hours. The city was almost destroyed and the

bombs claimed many lives.

Manchester had its own Blitz, which cost many lives and transformed

the city's skyline. Manchester was also a centre of the armaments

industry, and wartime lessons would give the city a head start in the

new field of computing.

Between July 1940 and June 1941, the Manchester area suffered repeated

and widespread bombing: on one night in 1941, bombs fell on Charlton,

Hulme, Stretford, Salfordand Swinton. For security reasons, the media

downplayed the Manchester raids: all damage to Trafford Park, a centre

of war production, went unreported.

On the nights of 22 and 23 December 1940 hundreds of high explosive

bombs and thousands of incen...

... middle of paper ...

... United Kingdom and is

renowned as the city of a 1,000 trades. Both its people and industry

played a vital role in the British war effort, but that essential

contribution is little known outside the city.

The array of war work in Birmingham was staggering. Bristol Hercules

engines made at Rover; Lancaster wings, shell cases and bombs

manufactured at Fisher and Ludlow's; Spitfire wing spans and light

alloy tubing at Reynold's; and plastic components at the GEC; up to

the Battle of Britain all the aero-carburettors for the RAF's

Spitfires and Hurricanes were made at SU Carburettors - and if it had

been destroyed the air force would have suffered a mortal blow. Serck

produced all the radiators and air coolers for these planes.

In the city of Clydebank, the blitz was carried out on its' major

shipbuilding industry.

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