Bombs over Glasgow in WW2

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Postby AlanM » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:19 am

I spotted an Anderson shelter the other day in Knightswood Rd. Its in pretty
good condition and is being used as a garden shed.

Are there any more still around?

Alan
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Postby Sir Roger DeLodgerley » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:26 am

I recall there being many Anderson shelters dotted around Mosspark from my time visiting my paternal grandmother. Most were employed as garden sheds. That would be in the early 80s so not sure how many there are nowadays.

On a connected note my father tells of hiding in the wardrobe during a bombing raid which he placed as 1940/41. The whole family lived in Mosspark at the time and presumably had their own shelter but chose not to use it. He discovered the next day that the explosions he had heard were not bombs falling but actually the anti-aircraft guns protecting King George V dock. Made the whole things sound like an adventure although his fear must have been real enough at the time.
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Postby adoniram » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:37 am

Not strictly about Glasgow but similar stories came up in conversation about the blitz and the effect it had on Erskine Inchinnan and Renfrew.I play golf at Erskine golf club and you can still see 3 distinct craters where bombs were jettisoned after the Clydebank raid.Also stories about bombs being found by the local farmer when he was ploughing the fields and also of bombs in Inchinnan and Renfrew either causing damage or houses being evacuated due to unexploded bombs.No idea of casualties but i could easily find out by asking the locals about their experiences and see what comes up. :?:
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BOMBS OVER GLASGOW

Postby Socceroo » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:16 pm

I would certainly be interested in any bombings in the Clydeside / Clyde Valley air raids.

Clydebank is very well documented due the concentration of the raids over that particular area, but i continue to be surprised at the extent of and spread out nature of the bombings as revealed in many of the posts put up under this topic.
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Postby anok » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:43 pm

theres remains of a german plane on meikle bin above fintry , a few bits could still be seen last time I was there
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Postby Pgcc93 » Tue Sep 27, 2005 3:39 pm

anok wrote:theres remains of a german plane on meikle bin above fintry , a few bits could still be seen last time I was there


I think that wreckage is a Fairey Firefly of the Fleet Air Arm that crashed in 1954. :)


http://www.scotcrash.homecall.co.uk/site19.htm

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Last edited by Pgcc93 on Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby anok » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:06 pm

I stand corrected :oops: , misinformation abounds
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Postby peter » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:10 pm

On winter days if there is a dusting of snow on the ground you can see a row of bomb craters on the Old Kilpatrick hills near the Slacks trig point. I have a piece of bomb (front bit) weighing 48 lbs that I carried off these hills . Lying in garden shed . I offered to Clydebank museum but were not too interested.
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HMS Sussex

Postby peter » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:14 pm

On the subject of the Blitz i came across this account of the bombing of HMS Sussex sunk on the Clyde in 1940


Sinking of HMS Sussex, 1940
Posted on September 27, 2005 at 08:47:09 PM by Sam

A couple of years back there was an exchange of postings here concerning the sinking of HMS Sussex during the war at Yorkhill Quay across the water from Harlands' yard in Govan. The article shown here was written by Peter Petts ([email protected]) and obtained from the website 'ourglasgowstory' (there are actually two postings dealing with this sinking). Peter's article is very interesting and may be of interest to some other Govan people.
H.M.S. Sussex, September 1940
The early morning of 18 September 1940 is a time I shall always remember. I was a 19 year old R.N. Able Seaman and had been onboard H.M.S. Sussex since October 1938. I therefore knew pretty well every part of the ship.

"Sussex" was in Glasgow being prepared for Murmansk Convoy Duty and was having last minute repairs in the engine room. A few deck plates had been removed to allow access, and a bomb dropped right through that hole.

It went through the lower and platform decks and burst in the engine room near oil fuel tanks. Four members of the crew were killed, and twelve others died later of wounds. The lower deck at that point was destroyed, fire and bilge pumps were put out of action, the fuel tanks caught fire and flames were soon spreading fore and aft. But the worst part was the fact that all the magazines were full of ammunition, torpedoes, shells and depth charges, as well as eight torpedoes in the tubes on the upper deck. If the fire reached the magazines, a large part of Glasgow would have been threatend with death and destruction.

The crew that was on board that night started to fight the fire, but due to the lack of the fire and bilge pumps as well as the thick black oil fuel smoke, we were struggling. However, the Fire Brigade soon arrived and we, the Navy lads, were glad to have some help. We got more than that. They took over and soon had pumps going and water being sprayed just where it was required in the fire.

I was ordered to help the firemen by guiding them around the ship and assisting with the hoses. It was a long, dirty and scary night. The plates were buckling with the intense heat and black slippery oil was everywhere.

Quite a few, including Navy men, were sent to the Western Infirmary with severe burns; and it was then noticed that the torpedoes in the tubes were getting very hot and would probably explode with the heat. Although we tried to pull them out it was a hopeless task, and all we could do was to spray them with water to keep them cool!
It was then that the Fire Chief called for the Vehicle Ferry to be used as a fireboat, and they manned it with fire engines. She arrived about 5.30 a.m. on the 19th, and soon had sixteen powerful water jets playing on the "Sussex".

It was not until the 19th, 23 hours after the bomb had hit, that the fire was brought under control and the ship was sunk alongside the wall so that she was flooded to extinguish the blaze and prevent any explosion of the ammunition.

I believe it was in the early hours of the morning that some of the tenements and a Children's Hospital were evacuated, but strange to tell, the story of the "Sussex" being nearly destroyed in the heart of Glasgow was kept secret 'til long after the war had ended. Even we Navy Lads were told "not to discuss it", so we didn't.

The bit that amused me most was that when we were returned to Chatham Naval Barracks we were given "7 days Survivors leave" having lost our ship while she was tied up alongside in Fairfield's Yard!!
I do remember a Salvation Army man that came and set up a mobile canteen on the quay and was handing out cups of tea and beef extract not too far from the ship even though the fire was raging. I believe the poor chap was killed shortly after in a road accident.

In 1990 I received an invitation from the Lord Provost and Glasgow Council to attend a Civic Dinner in the City Chambers for the "Sussex Association", during which the Strathclyde Fire Master quoted, verbatim, from the Confidential Fire Report of October 1940 concerning the "Sussex" fire. Perhaps, after all this time, that report might still be available, which would further add to the story, as I am sure that after all these years my memory can only provide a part of the story.
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Postby crusty_bint » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:40 pm

More on HMS Sussex at the Glasgow Story
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Postby Armadillo » Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:01 pm

Here's the bridge over Kelvin Way, complete with restored sculptures:

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And here's a close-up of the plaque:

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BOMBS OVER GLASGOW

Postby Socceroo » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:45 pm

KELVINDALE PARACHUTE MINE

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Aerial atlas view of Leicester Avenue / Chelmsford Drive area (Red circle)where nine people were killed following a Parachute mine exploding.

St Johns Renfield Church is adjacent. It had most of its windows blown out (Pink arrow).

Great Western Road (Yellow Line)

If you visit this quiet residential area today it is difficult to understand the devastation which the area sustained.
Last edited by Socceroo on Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BOMBS OVER GLASGOW

Postby Socceroo » Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:12 pm

QUEENS PARK UP CHURCH - INCENDIARY BOMB

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Aerial atlas view of area of Queens Park UP Church (Alexander Thomson) in Langside Road destroyed by incendiary bombs.

Victoria Road (Yellow line)
Langside Road (Green line)
Queens Drive (Blue line)
Former site of Queens Park UP Church (Red circle)

Queens Park is to the right hand side of photograph (South).
Last edited by Socceroo on Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Pgcc93 » Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:52 pm

Scheiße! Ich vermißte das Ziel..... ist das Diagramm Oberseite unten?

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loosley translated, they've had a spot of map trouble!
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BOMBS OVER GLASGOW

Postby Socceroo » Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:22 pm

DALNOTTAR AND OLD KILPATRICK ADMIRALTY FUEL TANKS

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Following on from My Kitten and Schiehallion's postings about the Admiralty Fuel Tanks at Dalnottar and Old Kilpatrick, i found the following in I M M McPhails book "The Clydebank Blitz":

"Not far from Clydebank, on its western boundary, three of the 70 - 80 Admiralty oil tanks at Dalnottar and Old Kilpatrick were bombed by the Luftwaffe and one of them set on fire. (The next night when this tank was still ablaze, ten more tanks were set on fire, eight at Dalnottar and two at Old Kilpatrick.)

Clydebank's blazing infernoes were of such magnitude that they could be seen by RAF planes at Dyce near Aberdeen."

Where is everybody tonight? Everbody getting their beauty sleep before tomorrows night out?

Nice artwork on the last posting Pgcc93, could you do me one with an HG bomber attacking the City Chambers?
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