Exeter blitz
Devastating bombing
The city of Exeter, in Devon, was mercilessly bombed by the Nazis during the course of WW2- in total there were around 18 air raids, but the most devastating air raid happened on Monday the 4th of may, 1942, which resulted in many historic, architectural gems being lost; 1500 buildings being obliterated and 2700 being seriously damaged, but worst of all, 156 innocent civilians died and 563 were badly injured. These statistics may not be high as other blitzes, such as the Plymouth blitz, but it certainly was more devastating for the community- it took Exeter approximately 20 years to fully recover from the bombing, and even now, the scars of war are still permanently clinging onto Exeter as there are many things that can't just simply be fixed with some bricks and concrete. After May the 4th, 1942, Exeter was much less of a city of culture, it became a city of war. |
Why did it happen?
If you were Hitler, you may answer this question with the old saying, "an eye for an eye." The British bombed the Germans First. On the 28/29th of march, 1942, the British (RAF) bombed the ancient German cathedral city of Lubeck. This greatly infuriated Hitler so he decided to have his revenge by taking it out on beautiful, but unimportant, towns in Britain as Lubeck was also beautiful and it had been destroyed. So, to decide on the most beautiful towns to destroy, Hitler used the Baedeker tourist guide which told him many things about locations in Britain, such as which cities were the most cultural and historical. Unfortunately, the city of Exeter was selected and was then bombed. |
Account of the Exeter blitz
Ernst Von Kugel - German bomber pilot"It was a night of terror for the Exeter people. When I approached this town the bright reflections guided me. Over the town I saw whole streets of houses on fire, flames burst out of windows and doors, devouring the roofs. People were running everywhere and firemen were frantically trying to deal with flames. It was a fantastic sight - no one who saw it will forget the greatness of the disaster. We thought of the thousands of men, women and children, the victims of our deadly visit, but we thought of our Fuhrer and the command he gave 'Revenge'. With cold calculation we carried out our orders." |
This is the only actual photograph (above) of the Exeter Blitz
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The battle is far from over
After the blitz, the bombs had caused the ancient, often plaster and lath, buildings to catch on fire and as Exeter was a very old city, the houses were close together which enables the fire to spread much more easily and devour more and more areas of Exeter. Fronts of Buildings collapsed into the roads and collapsing buildings ignited shops on the opposite side of the roads, which resulted in many businesses being destroyed. Reinforcement fire fighters were called in, to help suppress the flames, from Taunton, where they left at 3:15 AM which were closely followed by other emergency fire fighters from Plymouth. Unfortunately, a strong, south westerly wind was helping to spread the flames and due to utter urgency, water had to be used from local swimming pools. Not only did these brave men face the infernos, there was an estimated 39 unexploded bombs (UXB's) to make the environment even more hazardous. By around 7:40 AM, some of the fires were starting to be controlled and then the fires were gradually ceased throughout the morning. However, sporadic flames caused unexpected fires- the fire fighters had to act very quickly to prevent these small flurries of fire from spreading. These quick fires continued to pop up until 12:30 PM over 2 days later.
After the blitz, the bombs had caused the ancient, often plaster and lath, buildings to catch on fire and as Exeter was a very old city, the houses were close together which enables the fire to spread much more easily and devour more and more areas of Exeter. Fronts of Buildings collapsed into the roads and collapsing buildings ignited shops on the opposite side of the roads, which resulted in many businesses being destroyed. Reinforcement fire fighters were called in, to help suppress the flames, from Taunton, where they left at 3:15 AM which were closely followed by other emergency fire fighters from Plymouth. Unfortunately, a strong, south westerly wind was helping to spread the flames and due to utter urgency, water had to be used from local swimming pools. Not only did these brave men face the infernos, there was an estimated 39 unexploded bombs (UXB's) to make the environment even more hazardous. By around 7:40 AM, some of the fires were starting to be controlled and then the fires were gradually ceased throughout the morning. However, sporadic flames caused unexpected fires- the fire fighters had to act very quickly to prevent these small flurries of fire from spreading. These quick fires continued to pop up until 12:30 PM over 2 days later.