On This Day – The Manchester Blitz
Introduction
On this day in December 1940, the Manchester Blitz began.
On the nights of the 22nd – 23rd and 23rd – 24th December the Luftwaffe launched two heavy raids on the city of Manchester. The mood was reportedly tense in the city after the neighbouring port of Liverpool was heavily bombed on the preceding nights of the 20th – 21st and 21st – 22nd December.
It was in this atmosphere of expectancy that at 6.38pm on the 22nd, air raid sirens across Manchester launched into action.
The first attack
The Luftwaffe attack followed the same pattern adopted on previous raids on British cities. Heinkel 111 medium bombers of Luftflotte 3 launched an intensive preliminary incendiary attack, during which few high explosive (HE) bombs were used. This was followed by waves of bombers dropping increasingly heavy calibre HE bombs as the target area became illuminated by the fires caused by the incendiary bombs (IBs).
The first IBs were dropped just two minutes after the alarm sounded. Some of the earliest IBs fell in Albert Square opposite the Town Hall. Fires were soon reported at the Royal Exchange, Victoria Buildings, Hailwood’s Creamery, and Exchange Hotel.
Within the hour warehouses on the corner of Portland Street and Sackville Street were ablaze, and further fires had started across the city centre, including at Old Shambles, Bridgewater House, Corporation Street, and Mosley Street.
Buildings ablaze surrounding Piccadilly Omnibus Terminal, 23rd December 1940 (Wikimedia Commons)
As the fires raged, clusters of HE bombs began to fall, ripping through Gray Street, Stafford Street and Cooke Street. The road to Salford was severed when a building at the corner of Bridge Street and Gartside Street collapsed. Over five and a half hours, more HE bombs were dropped indiscriminately between Hulme and the Northern Quarter.
A second wave of bombers approached in strength at approximately 2.00am, concentrating its attack on the docks at Salford and the industrial estate at Trafford Park. These targets were easily identified on the north and south banks of the Manchester Ship Canal.
Luftwaffe target photograph of Salford Docks, November 1940 (NARA)
When the final wave arrived at 3.25am to drop heavier HE bombs and parachute mines (PMs), more than 400 fires had been recorded across Manchester. One Luftwaffe crew reported seeing the blaze from over forty kilometres away.
The Luftwaffe return
Fire crews were still at work the following night when the Heinkel IIIs of Luftflotte 3 returned. This second attack, which lasted between 7.15pm and 1.29am, proved slightly less effective.
As the enemy pathfinders approached from the south, they came under heavy anti-aircraft (AA) gun fire, dropping several IBs early over Davenport, Heaton Mersey, Heaton Moor and Stockport. A delay in the next wave of bombers allowed fire crews to put out most of the IBs, saving the Stockport area from significant damage.
The main force of bombers continued towards Manchester, dropping at least 55 HE bombs though intermittent cloud cover, with many more falling on Salford. By 3.00am the all-clear had been given, with fires in the city either extinguished or contained. A long clean up period followed.
Firemen at work among the Portland Street warehouses, 24th December 1940 (Wikimedia Commons)
Aftermath
Over the two-night period of the Manchester Blitz (also referred to as the Christmas Blitz), approximately 805 HE bombs, 86 PMs, and at least 2,000 IB canisters were dropped on Manchester, Salford, and neighbouring Stretford.
In Manchester, the warehouse and commercial districts had sustained heavy losses, with approximately 165 warehouses, 150 offices, five banks, and over 200 other business premises either destroyed or significantly damaged. More than 30,000 houses were also damaged or destroyed.
The city’s infrastructure was badly affected, with both the city’s main railway stations and the bus station being hit. Water supplies were affected and electricity was rationed.
In Salford an estimated 299 HE bombs, 26 PMs, and several thousand individual IBs were dropped. 8,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, with an extra 12,000 houses affected in neighbouring Stretford.
An extract from the Manchester Bomb Damage Map (The University of Manchester)
Red shade/hatch denotes destroyed or damaged buildings, blue circles show HE bombs, and red circles show IBs
The Greater Manchester area continued to be bombed intermittently throughout WWII, including the third and last major raid on Manchester on the 2nd June 1941, and a notorious but small V1 attack in December 1944.
The UXO risk
Since the end of WWII UXO has been periodically encountered in the city. This has included the discovery of an unexploded IB in the Bridgewater Canal as recently as August 2020.
It is estimated that 11% of all bombs dropped during WWII failed to detonate. When planning to develop a site in a city like Manchester, considering the potential hazard provided by UXBs is critical.
This year Zetica has completed 117 UXO risk assessments in Greater Manchester. If you require further assurance on the potential bombing hazard for a site, you can download an Unexploded Bomb (UXB) risk map. These provide a high-level overview of whether there is likely to be a significant hazard from WWII bombing near your site: https://zeticauxo.com/guidance/risk-maps/
If you require further assurance on the potential bombing hazard, or other sources of UXO, our free Pre-Desk Study Assessments (PDSAs) can help: https://zeticauxo.com/pdsa-request-form/
Alternatively, get in touch with one of our UXO specialists via: uxo@zetica.com or 01993 886682.
