Thursday 18 January 2018

A TERRIBLE NIGHT FOR GRIMSBY AND CLEETHORPES AS BOMBS RAINED DOWN FROM THE NIGHT SKY



IT will be 75 years on June 14  since Grimsby felt the full force of an air raid that cost scores of lives.

Until that date in 1943, Grimsby had been  largely unscathed by enemy bombing attacks.

But between 1am  and 1.30 am, bombs of all types fell.

They included 1,000-kg blast bombs, incendiaries and canisters containing anti-personnel explosives.

The canisters were especially treacherous, some of them lodging in guttering  or caught in the branches of trees or overhead cables - and likely to explode during operations to remove them.

Areas worst affected were Cleethorpe Road, Freeman Street and Victoria Street plus residential streets in both East Marsh and West Marsh plus North Cleethorpes.

Peter Dixon's Mill, the Bon Marche store and Weelsby Old Hall were all engulfed in flames.

The area around the fish docks was also devastated

Within just half-and-hour, the attack claimed no fewer than 99 lives. Hundreds more were injured, some seriously.

Harry Blundell (39) was one of three air raid wardens killed when a bomb fell on a classroom at Canon Ainslie School.

Pc Walter Rouse was fatally wounded by an exploding bomb as he aided one of the injured.

It is not yet known if there will be any civic or other initiatives in memory of what happened that terrible night.

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