Figure 1.--Bristol was an important port for the Western Approaches and thus targetted by the Luftwaffe. It was beyond the reach of day-light raids because German fightrs with limited ranges could not escort the bombers. After the daylight Blitz on London failed (September 1940), the Germans began striking privincial cities. The first raid on Bristol came 10 days after Conventry (November 14). Notice how the bomb here destoyed twon or three single-family homes. Thus the Germans were using some of their most valuable military assetts to destoy civilian homes that had no impact on the war effort. Also notice that incenderaries might have had a far greater impact. German cities consisted of far more multiple story aparment buildings meaning the cities were far more densely populated. This made them more vulnerable to aerial bombardment. And whle the Blitz was going on the British were preparing to build a strategic bombing force with a capacity far beyond that of the Luftwaffe.

Bristol was one of the principal ports for convoys arriving through the Western approaches. It wa a difficult target for the Luftwaffe for the preliminary daylight phases because fighters could not cover the bombers as they could for raids on southeastern England. Once the battle plan becanme night bombing, Bristol became a target. Bristol's turn came 10 days after the devestating attack on Coventry (November 14). Luftwaffe bombers began to hit Bristol at 6:00 pm (November 24). They would return again and again in an effort to destoy the port. The fir raid lasted 6 hours as several waves of bombers hit the city. It is not clear just what targets was assigned the bombers, but the boms fell on the city center rather than the docks. The Germans destroyed historic buildings, chirches, and the museum. The results wre niot as devestating as Coventry, but auarter of the historic medieval city was destroyed. This included the main shopping area which is now called Castle Park. The casualties included 207 killed and 187 severely injured. An estimated 10,000 homes were danmaged, although only 1,400 people were made homeless. The Government seeking to maintain morale did not permit detailed reporting as had occurred in Conventry. The RAF at the time was just beginning to develop night fighter capability. Thus lossess were limited, although bombing at night, hitting targets beyond a city was veery difficult. The Germans bombed the city center again (December 2) and returned agaun (December 6). Casualties from the two raids included 256 people killed and 229 people injured. King George VI and Queen Mary visited the city to boost morale (December 16). Christmas 1940 passed by without any new Luftwaffe raids, but the Germans had not forgotten about Bristol. Just after News Yeras, the Luftwaffe hit Bristol again (January 3). The targets were the docks and Temple Meads railway station. There was extensive damage to both. The Granary on Princes Wharf was destroyed along with 8,000 tons of grain. An important product brought to Britain by the convoys was grain from America and Canada because Britain was not self-sufficient in food production. The raid went on for 12 hours. After the raid, the people of Bristol found an unexploded 4,000lb bomb was dropped on Knowle. They named it Satan. Actually ager number of smaller bombs, especially incendiaries, did more damage. After the War, Satan featured in the 1945 London victory parade. Casualties included 149 people killed and 133 people injured. The Germans next raided Avonmouth and the docks again along with various other areas of the city (March 16). Casualties included 257 people killed and 391 people injured. The Luftwaffe attacked with 162 bombers (March 16). The last major raid was the Good Friday Raid (April 11). Several waves of bombers hit the city. This time the Germans dropped large numbers of incendiaries. The docksere hit again along with the city center. Historic St. Philip�s Bridge was destroyed. Because the Bridge carried the power for the tram network, this put the city trams out of commission. With the Germans beginning the final stages of preparations for Barbarossa, most Luftwaffe forces in France were shifted east. This was the end of the Blitz for Bristol. The Germans as a matter of strategy continued nusisance raids (1942). A single Luftwaffe bombr dropped a 500 lb bomb on Broad Weir in the city center. A number of carswere destroyed and leaking fuel spread to several busses. Casualties totaled 45 people killed, mostly in the busses. The final raid came just before D-Day (May 15. 1944. One man in the south of the city was killed working at a searchlight station. After D-Day, the Germans lost their airbases in France. Bristol was beyond the range of the V-1s and V-2s which hit London (1944).

Created: 8:15 AM 8/3/2011
Last updated: 8:15 AM 8/3/2011