The Bath Blitz

[oldscrote]

Wasn't to sure where to post this.so please move if necessary.

69 years ago today Bath suffered the second night of an horrendous bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe.Known as the Baedeker raids they were a series of revenge attacks on British historic towns initiated by Hitler in retaliation for the RAF bombing of Lubeck.Altogether 5 towns were targeted Bath Norwich Exeter York and Canterbury.As all these towns were outside gun defended areas GDAs the damage was immense and casualties were high with 417 being killed in Bath in three nights.There is not much left to see on the ground now most of the wrecked buildings were either rebuilt or demolished,new modern buildings went up in some cases and in others the ground was left as an open space.This is one area of it's history that the tourist mad city fathers of the city do not dwell on.

1 The first set of photos shows the only building left in the city showing really heavy shrapnel damage there are a few more around with minor chunks missing but this is the most powerful one


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6 This last one shows that the corner of the building was all but destroyed by the blast and rebuilt at a later date


The second set shows the site of an air raid shelter in Oldfield Park that took a direct hit killing nearly everyone inside.It is now a small park and memorial garden.In 2008 a ex Luftwaffe pilot came over to pay his respects at a memorial service held in the park,I had the pleasure of meeting him and a very nice old boy he was.

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The third set of photos show the graves if those killed

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This is the war graves section with the cross or remembrance behind


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A shelter close by the graves.This is a very peaceful spot I occasionally sit here and contemplate the folly of humankind and it's seemingly endless wars


There is an excellent website dedicated to the Bath Blitz with locations a great photo section with then and now shots and a huge archive off poignant memories

http://www.bathblitz.org/

 

[gingrove]

Very interesting I had heard of the Baedecker raids but had not realised that they caused so many casualities or that a shelter had been hit. Thanks for posting

 

[Alansworld]

Wow, extraordinary to see that there is still war damage in a major city after all these years. Nice pix, very interesting.

 

[Snips86x]

And to think I've passed this regurarly and never spotted it. This is a great and very intersting find. Thanks for posting.

 

[John_D]

Wow, extraordinary to see that there is still war damage in a major city after all these years. Nice pix, very interesting.

One major exception comes to mind, Coventry Cathederal,
How it was in 1941

And how it remains today

 

[oldscrote]

John D I reckon if you look hard enough in most towns and cities that suffered at the hands of the Luftwaffe you will find some remnants of the damage caused.I seem to remember Plymouth has a skeletal church still standing,and I guess there must be many more examples of bomb damage across the country.Could be a good idea for a thread..........

 

[spacepunk]

I enjoyed that report mate, thanks.

 

[fluffy5518]

Fantastic stuff oldscrote !! I find anything to do with the Blitz amazing !! So much social history, so much terror, so much sadness yet so many fascinating stories....all of it now being eroded by time and a less caring society !! Thanx mate !!

 

[scribble]

We stay at Oldfields when we visit Bath. It must be near that park. We will go and look for it in the Summer. Thanks for drawing it to our attention.

 

[Foxylady]

...I guess there must be many more examples of bomb damage across the country.Could be a good idea for a thread..........

There are a few bits in Exeter still. There was an exhibition in the city museum some 19 yrs ago and some of the photos on display showed whole swathes of streets with nothing left but just piles of rubble and not one single wall remaining. It was horrendous...never seen anything like it before.
Great to see those, Olds. Good idea.

 

[Timmy]

John D I reckon if you look hard enough in most towns and cities that suffered at the hands of the Luftwaffe you will find some remnants of the damage caused.I seem to remember Plymouth has a skeletal church still standing,and I guess there must be many more examples of bomb damage across the country.Could be a good idea for a thread..........

'ere being a janner myself i would confirm that church is still standing and is infact called charles cross church... bombed killing albut most leaving the walls standing... and rebuilt to remember those that have fallen


Taken at night with Lamb phall few months ago!

 

[smiler]

Interesting and moving report and pics, I enjoyed it, Thanks for Sharing

 

[karltrowitz]

I love the shrapnel damage. I just hope it is preserved to remind people what happened there during the war.

 

[nelly]

Brilliant report and a fantastic historical story. Thank you

 

[audi-adam]

i found that extremely interesting ! thanks for sharing, i was having a wander around exeter in princesshay the other day and had a good history lesson in the process

 

[night crawler]

Thanks for posting I never realised Bath was hit like that. I was reading about Reading and how it was hit in a supprise raid at lunchtime. A bomb landed on a cafe killing 42 people then they machine guned the twon as well. Some sad storys you hear from different places. RIP

 

[TeeJF]

Great posting.

There's a building not so far from me which shows a very small amount of the same shrapnel pitting when a bomb from a Zeppelin was dropped close by it in the road in WW1. The Zepp didn't do a great deal of damage really until it got to Bolton but then there were a handful of deaths from when he circled and bombed what he thought was a marshalling yard. Turns out it was cotton mill housing. This Zeppelin got back to it's base and reported he'd bombed Derby.

A per pro the Bath blitz, my family all come from Bath and my father was in hospital having his appendix removed the night of one of the raids. He was not long out of surgery and remembers being wheeled down into the cellars of the hospital for the duration.

 

[DJ-Jamster]

Very Nice!
In my local cemetary we have a grave full of gun shots and shrapnel holes probably from WWII.

 

[gushysfella]

Fantastic to see the building still bears the scars (that doesn’t sound like the way I mean it!!), and should be kept as a monument to the hell on earth it must have been for all those involved in the blitz, hard to image what it must of been like to be caught out in the open while the bombs dropped. Grate photos thanks for sharing


Just thinking about it, ww2 shrapnel on buildings, you Leicester lot can have some of that from WW1. PM me and I’ll give you a location of a street with scares from a WW1 bombing raid.

 

[phill.d]

I really enjoyed that report.
it was something a bit different, informative and very interesting. It's good to see stuff like this.
Well done that man