Barrow Blitz

TheHindenburgflying overWalney Islandin 1936.

Target dossier of Barrow-in-Furness, GermanLuftwaffeJuly 1941

Damage caused by bombing during 1941 on Newland Street looking towards Hindpool Road.

Barrow Town Hallnarrowly avoided major damage during the 1941 spell of bombings.

Barrow was one of the most successful shipbuilding centres in Europe, the main reason it became a target. Aircraft carrierHMSIndomitablewas launched byWinston Churchillin the town in 1940.

TheBarrow Blitzis the name given to theLuftwaffebombings ofBarrow-in-Furness,United KingdomduringWorld War II.They took place primarily during April and May 1941, although the earliestLuftwaffebombing occurred in September 1940.VSELshipyard was the main target for bombing alongside Barrow'ssteelworks,which were formerly the largest in the world.

Prelude

Many Barroviansbelieve the first sign of German interest of the town was in May 1936, when thezeppelinLZ-129Hindenburgflew very low and slowly over Barrow, which locals and government officialsalike believed was spying on the shipyard, although it claimed to be simply carrying passengers on a luxury trip.The town, with a population of around 75,000 in 1941,was targeted by theLuftwaffemainly for its shipbuilding industry (similar to theClydebank Blitz) which was one of the most sophisticated in the world and built many submarines and ships for theRoyal Navy.

Artillery and defences

During the Second World War,Walney Islandwas home to two of the country's many coastal artillery installations (Hilpsford Fort and Fort Walney), and numerouspillboxescan to this day be found littered across the Walney coastline. They were used as lookouts and contained rifles and light machine guns that could be used to defend Barrow against theLuftwaffe.The entrance to a large undergroundair-raid shelterthat was used by shipyard workers can be found in the car park of theWaterfront Barrow-in-Furness development.A large unit of theRoyal Air Forcewas based atBarrow/Walney Island Airportwhich was expanded during the war in an effort to aid Britain's air defences.

1941 raids

The difficulty of solely targeting Barrow's shipyard meant that many residential neighbourhoods were bombed instead; 83 civilians were killed, 330 injured, and over 10,000 houses were damaged or destroyed during the Blitz, about 25 percent of the town's housing stock.Surrounding towns and villages were often mistaken for Barrow and were attacked instead, while many streets in Barrow were severely damaged. Bombing during mid-April 1941 caused significant damage to a central portion ofAbbey Road,completely destroying the Waverley Hotel as well as Christ Church and the Abbey Road Baptist Church. The town's main public baths and Essoldo Theatre were also severely damaged, however they were repaired within years.Hawcoat Lane is a street that is most noted for taking a direct destructive hit in early May 1941.Barrow has been described as somewhat unprepared for the Blitz, as there were only enough public shelters for 5 percent of the town's population; some people who lived in thetown centrewere even forced to seek refuge in hedgerows on the outskirts of Barrow. This shortage of shelters was believed to have led to excessively high casualties.Two fire watchers were killed in May 1941 when the hammer head crane they were stationed in atVickers Shipyardwas bombed by theLuftwaffe.

The headquarters of Barrow's anti-aircraft defences was in theFurness Abbey Hotel,a sandstone building next to the former railway station by the ruins of theabbey,in a valley screened by trees, it would seem to have been an unlikely target. In May 1941 it was attacked and badly damaged by theLuftwaffe.Most of the hotel was subsequently demolished and the remaining part became a public house/restaurant known as 'The Abbey Tavern'.Barrow Central Stationwas heavily damaged on 7 May 1941; a First World War memorial located within it still bears the holes and gashes caused by the World War II bombings.

Aftermath

A local housewife,Nella Lastwrote a diary of her everyday experiences on the home front during the war for theMass-Observationproject. Her memoirs were later adapted for television.

Stella Rimington,later head ofMI5,moved out of London to Barrow at the age of four when the war started, and lived there during the Blitz there. She described hiding under the stairs, windows being blown out, and ceilings falling down. On a very bad night, walking through the bombs to an air raid shelter.

Barrow's main war memorial is acenotaphlocated in Barrow Park. It bears the names of hundreds of Barrovians who died in combat during various wars, including 616 in the First World War, 268 in the Second World War, and 6 in theKorean War.TheDock MuseuminHindpoolcontains an exhibit about the Barrow Blitz.

Documentary

In 2016, filmmaker andBarrow Sixth Formstudent Matthew Dodd created a documentary to commemorate the Barrow Blitz's 75th anniversary, entitledThe Barrow Blitz: 75 Years On.

Timeline

Timeline of events during the Barrow Blitz.

• September 1940
  • The first compulsoryblackoutin Barrow.
  • 300 incendiaries are dropped onSalthouse,and a 5-year-old child becomes the first victim of the Barrow Blitz.
• May 1941
  • Bombing intensifies as theLuftwaffedrops land-mines, incendiaries, and high explosives.
  • Barrow Central railway stationis completely destroyed by bombing.
  • Some 2,250 children are evacuated from the town.
• June 1941
  • A further 4,000 children are evacuated as the death toll from bombing exceeds 80.
• January 1942
  • The last bombs of the Blitz are dropped on Barrow, with no recorded casualties.
• March 1942
  • The lastair-raid sirenin Barrow was recorded on 25 March.

See also

• The Blitz
• Barrow Park Cenotaph
• Timeline of Barrow-in-Furness
• Housewife, 49
• Vickers Ltd. Shipbuilding
• Barrow/Walney Island Airport