Dugald wrote:Socceroo, in your last post you speak of the bombing of Clydeside as "wanton" and "indiscriminate". I'm not at all sure those are really valid descriptions of the Luftwaffe attacks on the Clydeside. I don't think for example, the placing of an explosive device about 40 yards from the Stephens' shipyard, or a direct hit on the Harlands' Yard, or a direct hit on the Beardsmore yard, were the result of indiscriminate bombing........
Dugald, i do not doubt for a minute that when the Luftwaffe Bombers left their bases in Northern France, Denmark, Holland and Western Germany, that they did so with planned targets in mind.
The type of bombing strategy that the Luftwaffe used in bombing the Clydeside is fairly well documented. Initially Pathfinder Bombers came over the City after being guided in using crossed Radio Frequency beams. They would then drop Incendiaries on the target area to identify it to the follow on Bombers. These Pathfinders also dropped a small amount of HE bombs with the intention of making the population take cover.
Luftwaffe 1Kg Thermite Incendiary BombTrying to get the population, including the Fire fighters to take cover was not a benevolent act. The intention was that the fires caused by the incendiaries would have time to take hold unchecked and act as a guide for the follow on Bombers which would arrive over the target area some 15 – 20 minutes later.
Incendiary Bombs dropped from 10,000 feet and above could spread out well over 1000m from one cluster drop.1000kg+ Luftmines in Parachutes dropped from Bombers at 10,000 feet + could drift from 500m to 1000m from where they left the Bomber. These Luftmines could destroy just about every structure around their point of impact in a 150m radius. If you were standing in the open anywhere in the region of less than 500m from them on impact, then the likelihood is that you would be killed.
Fulwood Avenue, Caldwell Avenue, Blairdardie Road, Turnberry Road, Airlie Gardens and Chelmsford Drive in Glasgow were all hit by Luftmines resulting in multiple fatalities at each location. They are all in residential areas of Glasgow.
Luftwaffe 1000Kg LuftmineFor me if you drop a 1000kg Luftmine on a Parachute over a City in the hope as much as the expectation that it hits its target, then that is fairly indiscriminate.
The point i was making in my last post, or was trying to, was that i believe that the majority of Glaswegians who live and work in the City are unaware as to the extent of the bombing which happened over the City during the War. For many the Second World War is something that happened in Europe and Air Raids are something that happened in London. For some they are aware that there were Air Raids in Clydebank, but the knowledge of the Glasgow Air Raids for a number of reasons is limited.
We are all acutely aware that Glasgow in the early 1940’s was a different time and very much a different place, but today there are still parallels to be drawn and lessons which can be learned.