Swansea Blitz Project

SWANSEA BLITZ

TABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................... 2

How The Blitz started ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Types of weapons used................................................................................................................................... 2

Precautions Taken............................................................................................................................................ 3

Shelters ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

Blackouts........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Gas Masks ...................................................................................................................................................... 4

Extra precaution ........................................................................................................................................... 4

The Three Night Blitz.......................................................................................................................................... 4

Wednesday 19th February 1941..................................................................................................................... 5

Thursday 20th February 1941........................................................................................................................... 5

Friday 21st February 1941 ................................................................................................................................ 5

Ben Evans....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Swansea Market ........................................................................................................................................... 6

St. Mary’s Church.......................................................................................................................................... 6

Witness Report................................................................................................................................................... 7

The Impact/Aftermath..................................................................................................................................... 8

The Swansea Blitz.................................................................................................................................................. 9

Deaths, Casualties and Injures ..................................................................................................................... 10

Sources............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Websites ....................................................................................................................................................... 11

Books............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Media - DVD................................................................................................................................................ 11

Other............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Created by: David Evans Project Swansea Blitz 18th – 22nd March 2013

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ININININTRODUCTIONTRODUCTIONTRODUCTIONTRODUCTION

I chose the Swansea Blitz as my project to educate myself and inform other people about events

which occurred during the Swansea Blitz and the impact of the devastation caused to buildings and

surrounding communities.

HOW THE BLITZ STARTED

In around 1100 Swansea was founded by a Norman lord. In 1800 it was known well for copper

smelting and for its heavy industry of shipping; this gave Swansea a name of ‘Copperopolis’ and

allowed the city to grow. Times were changing and the vast majority of materials were made in their

own country, however, by 1939 the city still produced tin plates and zinc in the lower Swansea Valley.

A train network ran just around the docks and very near were several grid like streets called St.

Thomas, what is now known as SA1. With such a heavy scene near the docks it was evident they

would be targets for attackers.

The Blitz occurred during World War II which operated between 1939 and 1945 consisting of two

teams. The Axis Power (enemies) was Germany, Italy & Japan and the allies were Britain, France,

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, the Soviet Union, China and the USA. Adolf Hitler was the

leader of Germany and the Nazi Party; he wanted Germany to rule Europe. Japan wanted to control

Asia and the Pacific. In 1937 Japan attacked China and two years later Germany invaded Poland.

Starting what we know now as World War II.

TYPES OF WEAPONS USED

High Explosive (H.E) – Bombs which exploded with a huge bang and have the force to blow a

single building apart.

Incendiaries – Bombs which started fires, they had slow burning jets of phosphorous which

were extremely dangerous to go near

Parachute Mines – These mines were dropped from aircrafts during their flight and exploded

before they touched the ground to maximise damage

Oil bombs – These were in thin metal containers filled with flammable liquids which were

dropped from an aircraft hurling to the ground; on impact exploded, shooting burning oil in

the surrounding area.

Some of the bombs which landed did not go off but this could be due to a delayed action fuse. If a

bomb fell with a thud instead of a bang it was certainly a bomb which failed to explode and had to

be cornered off in case it went off; apparently 1 in every 10 fell with a thud.


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PRECAUTIONS TAKEN

SHELTERS

In around 1937, before the outbreak of war, councils were giving out Anderson Shelters. For people

who wanted to stay at their own premises they needed to dig out an area in their garden and put

the corrugated steel together. Once built they put sandbags on top and covered it with turf to hide

the shelter; as these were known to be a magnet for the enemies to bomb. Not many people had

them and official archive information shows that by September 1939 just 6,500 of the 30,000

Anderson Shelters were actually given out.

Another type was called ‘Morrison Shelter’; this was an indoor shelter which looked like a steel table

with a wire mesh around all sides, they were quite strong and would have been adequate to save

the people inside from being crushed by falling bricks. While the ones who had Anderson Shelters

stayed within their gardens the ones without a shelter went to a public air raid shelter called

‘community Anderson Shelters’. These shelters consisted of beds, tables and some form of potty to go

to the toilet in.

My great grandmother Elizabeth Davies, often referred to as ‘Lizzie’ always blamed my great

grandfather Stanley Davies for apparently causing a bomb to explode. My great grandparents lived

near Brynhyfryd, Landore; being a heavy smoker he went outside of the Anderson Shelter during a

raid and lit a cigarette. As Germans flying overhead saw a light they decided it would be a good

enough target. They dropped a bomb and luckily due to their poor accuracy it landed four doors

down but went off; they survived with no injuries. My great, great auntie Alice who is now 100 years

old lived in the same street and is still alive today; however she was not available to comment.

BLACKOUTS

The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Department co-

ordinated work of emergency services, enforced black-

outs and set up sirens around the town. Blackouts meant

that all lights at night had to be turned off or covered

with blackout materials. Bicycle lamps had to have a

cover, cars had to be adapted (lights had to be

dimmed, reverse lights were prohibited and if a car was

not going to be locked in a garage, part of the

mechanism had to be removed or a locking device

applied), and people’s houses had to have blackout

curtains on the windows. If they did not use the curtain an ARP warden came along telling you to put

the light out. These blackouts were so air bombers could not see the light and any targets; they

caused problems for anyone in the streets as you could hardly see but effectively in the long run

saved thousands of lives.


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GAS MASKS

The emergency services including ARP wardens were

given anti-gas training and gave gas masks to each

person living in Swansea where they had to carry them

every single second of the day. An interesting gas mask

is that of a baby; they were put into some kind of

quarantine looking item, this item is illustrated by a doll

in the picture to the right. This was a precaution due to

the Germans using gas in World War I; although no gas

attacks took place throughout World War II.

EXTRA PRECAUTION

To help prevent deaths some children were sent to other parts of the country. For example children

from Chatham, Kent went to Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley. Cities also used barrage balloons

which floated in the air and tied to the ground by steel; forcing enemy planes to go higher. The

advantage of using the barrage balloons were as the planes went higher they had less accuracy;

also the balloons were strong so any plane which went into them would be ruined.

Any buildings with windows had tape in a cross supporting the glass, ensuring it did not blow inwards

if they shattered. The government also took charge advertising how to put gas masks on, told people

to eat and grow more vegetables, the do’s and don’ts’ and a campaign named ‘Careless Talk

Costs Lives’ due to the fear of spies overhearing sensitive information.

THE THREE NIGHT BLITZ

The term Blitz comes from the German word ‘Blitzkrieg’ meaning ‘Lightning War’. A few nights before

the Blitz German pilots flew overhead and took aerial shots from high up in the sky to try and pin point

their targets; the images were very detailed. They marked potential targets such as where railway

lines were, coal being transported to King’s dock, the depots for Llandarcy with oil tanks clearly

marked out and food stores.

When the time came to bomb the city most of the bombers flew over Lundy Island (In Devon) and

approached Swansea from Worms Head, while more flew in from the east. The Luftwaffe (German

Air Force) was unable to get a precious target as they were flying high in the air. Quite shockingly if

the German Air Force dropped a bomb on a point target it could have landed anywhere in a 2 to

3km circle; the equivalent to approximately 1.8 miles. An example being if a bomb targeted

Sainsbury’s in Quay Parade that bomb could travel anywhere between Port Tennant & Cockett. Due

to their poor accuracy it is said that some bombers headed home dropping their bombs anywhere;

even on already lit fires making them a lot worse.


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Swansea was a dangerous place during the blitz; when Lazerzone was once Castle Cinema an

incendiary bomb landed on the roof but dislodged itself and saved the cinema. On another

occasion a raid siren went off during a film; everyone hurried to get to a nearby shelter. One lady,

who was the last one out, saw that this shelter had become over packed and decided to go to

another. The all clear was sounded and the following day learned that the very same shelter which

was jam-packed had been a target and killed many people.

To try and hit British moral the German Air Force (often referred to as Luftwaffe) decided to bomb

offices, shops and homes. The bombs were so brutal that just one bomb could have destroyed just

one house; this happening on at least one occasion. These bombs were designed to burn so

throwing any water on them just made matters worse; their casings were made of magnesium so

throwing sand on them seemed to be the best way to burn them out.

The fire-fighters were faced with destroyed water pipes while fires were blazing throughout various

parts of the city; to combat this they had to gather water from the north dock and the Swansea

baths. When some of the fire-fighters were up ladders the enemy aircrafts would fire, wounding and

killing them. With all of this going on they still had to deal with containing a perimeter around

unexploded bombs and demolishing unsafe buildings. Swansea’s search lights were all beaming into

the sky trying to catch enemy aircrafts with artillery (known as ack-ack guns).

WEDNESDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 1941

This night saw the very first night of what we know as ‘Three Night Blitz’. Light snow was falling on

already icy streets at 7:30pm as a black-painted German aircraft held flares, nicknamed baskets of

onions, over Swansea Bay. These flares allowed other enemy aircrafts to drop high explosive bombs

over a lit up Swansea softening targets and destroying gas & water mains ensuring they created as

much damage as possible; this meant the fires were easier to start and harder to put out.

THURSDAY 20TH FEBRUARY 1941

The Germans (Often referred to as Nazis) copied the previous night holding flares in the sky, once

again lighting the city and uncovering what would become targets. The air force dropped

incendiaries and even land mines on parachutes, shattering glass as they exploded. 7 wardens were

on duty that night.

FRIDAY 21ST FEBRUARY 1941

The third night was one of the worst; the air raid sirens sounded at 7:50pm and lasted for five hours;

one firewatcher said “the incendiaries came down like snow”. The fires were so much out of control


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Courtesy of South Wales Evening Post

that German pilots reported seeing approximately 7 extremely huge fires. On this night the market, a

department store named Ben Evans and St. Mary’s church were all targets.

BEN EVANS

A very well known and used department store was named Ben Evans. It was built in the 1890’s and

by the 1930’s the Carmarthenshire draper bought out small businesses and had a complex where 38

different departments were present; they consisted of clothes, china, haberdashery and more.

During the last night of the Three Night Blitz the department store which provided the people of

Swansea for 50 years was hit and now in its place stands castle square.

SWANSEA MARKET

One of the most known targets was the market; Swansea had

its original market at the end of Wind Street next to the castle in

the 18th century. Approximately 1830 the market was

relocated to a new site on Oxford Street. On this night the

incendiaries destroyed the interior causing metal girders to

twist, slates to crash and glass to smash. According to one

witness the girders were noticeably hot red. One of the most

distinctive effects about the market being hit was butter

melting in gutters and the smell of burning meat throughout the

town’s air.

The Market was obliterated; traders had to trade off the back of trucks until new premises could be

found. After a short while the market was temporarily situated at United Welsh bus garage (where

Wilkinson’s is now) until the market was cleared where it then reverted back to its original site after a

short period of time. Between 1941 and 1959 it operated without a roof; it consisted of wooden stalls

with corrugated steel roofs but of course they rusted over time. The stalls were open to all weather

conditions; quite often water blown by the wind would fly off the roofs down onto ill-fated customers.

The market was rebuilt on the same site between 1959 and 1961 and traders were once again

temporarily moved to the south on Orange Street and where the clothes store Primark is today. At

one point a bomb fell near the market and bounced off a wall, sliding down some steps of a public

shelter blowing to bits; many people were killed.

ST. MARY’S CHURCH

St. Marys Church has been located at the site since around 1328; since

then it has been rebuilt several times; the last time being 1980 before

the war due to it needing a countless list of repairs. Elaine Kidwell

witnessed the tower of St. Marys Church exploding into a great big

fireball and the bells ringing, hitting each side of the tower as they

came crashing down. When the building was on fire a soldier on leave

ran through the flaming church to save the altar cross. The image to

the left shows how much of the church was still standing after the fire

had been extinguished; and the destruction caused.


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The flames throughout the city were enormous and could be seen from up to 80 miles away. Places

such as: Cardigan, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, Cornwall and Devon reported seeing fires. People

living around the coast of Devon had a view from across the sea; the fire was so bad they thought

Swansea was history. Although there was no fourth night the people of Swansea must have

expected one.

WITNESS REPORT

One lady who has influenced the reflection of the Swansea Blitz is Elaine Kidwell. She was the

youngest air raid woman warden in the country; just seventeen years and two months old. Her role

was to get people safely into shelters; she was the only girl in a team of 7. She explained:

“I joined up as a civil defence messenger and when I was 17 years and two months old

I asked to be an air raid warden even though you had to be 18”. “The man in charge

could see I was young and when I told him my true age he said ‘In war we bend rules’.

So I was in”.

One night the head warden Mr. Scott or ‘Scotty’ as she called him shouted at her to give him a

hand; as she got closer she could see he was kneeling over a man. This man tried putting out a

burning incendiary by stamping on it and blew up ripping his foot from his leg. They both tried

wrapping materials around his leg to stop the blood from escaping until the ambulance arrived (a

van with a piece of canvas in it). Arrived and ready to depart, Scotty threw the man’s shoe into the

ambulance splattering a trial of blood everywhere as his foot was still inside.

Another tale of Elaine’s experience was relatively personal. She had two cousins; two grownups with

two babies. Her father asked her to go and visit them to see if they were ok; she ran over but when

she got there two houses had disappeared, there was nothing. A lady appeared and said “they’re

quite safe now you know, they’re alright, not going to be hurt anymore”; she thought to herself that it

was strange the way she said it. The lady then said “I’ll come with you, they’re over the church”;

they went over to the church and walked inside. There were two coffins with ‘Mummy’, ‘Daddy’ and

another square white coffin with the two babies in.

The war was dangerous and no-one was safe. At one point Elaine saw a parachute mine fall towards

her. It exploded and she was blasted, rolling over and over until she was stopped by hitting a brick

wall; knocking the breath out of her. She went on to say she was so young she didn’t think it would

happen to her, only to other people. In addition to helping people get to safety, clearing bombs,

administrating first aid and rescuing people no-one had much sleep; in all she estimated to have

had around ten hours sleep, if even that, in those 72 hours. As part of her job she had to deliver bad

news, she was always told to smile no matter what was said or done.


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THE IMPACT/AFTERMATH

It seems not all was done to protect Swansea from an attack and questions were raised; Cardiff and

other areas of the UK had more guns. Another major question asked is why there was no sound of

ack-ack guns being fired on the last night; one possibility is there were plans to take the Luftwaffe

head on by sending British Air Forces in and holding back fire just in case one of the British planes got

hit. Of course with the night Swansea had that never happened; Swansea was trapped while the

Luftwaffe had full control of the skies.

The morning of Saturday, 22nd February 1941 led to the Town Clerk and Chief Controller, H. Lang

Coath releasing the following statement:

“We found roads impassable. Fifteen schools had been destroyed or severely

damaged; telephones cut off; a causality list, providentially not so large as might be

expected (227 people died and 254 were seriously injured. Over 6,537 people without

a home.) The post office completely demolished and all papers, books and records,

including thousands of food registrations, destroyed. The shopping centre, including

the market, wiped out. A total of 171 food shops destroyed, 64 grocers, 61 butchers, 12

bakers, and 34 hotels, restaurants, and café’s. Gas and water cut off causing cooking

problems for those homes still standing.”

“Dangerous buildings required immediate attention; the blitz area had to be cordoned

off, rescue work had to go on, the dead had to be identified and buried. It just needed

a match to cause panic and consternation and put everything in hopeless muddle

and disorder.”

He also released information saying the ARP (Air Raid Prevention) control room had more than 8,000

messages and 561 incidents recorded during those three nights. Overall Swansea had 524 High Alerts

and everyone in the town spent a countless number of hours under threats of bombing; by the end

of it 41 acres of district has been engulfed.

The effect the war had on Swansea was horrific;

although the docks and industries were not majorly

hit approximately 857 properties were completely

destroyed while 11,000 were damaged making

8,000 people homeless. 395 shops, 107 offices and

82 industrial buildings were gone while many

families returning to rubble. The worst residential

areas consisted of Mayhill, Townhill, Brynmill,

Manselton, Brynhyrfed, Mount Pleasant and

St.Thomas. Ambulances had to pick up the injured

and the dead; sorting them at the hospital for

burial.



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THE SWANSEA BLITZTHE SWANSEA BLITZTHE SWANSEA BLITZTHE SWANSEA BLITZ

Throughout World War II (1939-45) Swansea had 44 attacks, 5 being blitz:

A force of 60-70 enemy aircrafts releasing over 30,000 incendiaries and 800 high explosive bombs (66 failing to detonate) was used to wreck havoc

on the town; a higher concentration area than anywhere outside of London. To help with putting out fires other fire-fighters from South Wales were

travelling to Swansea to lend a helping hand. In addition twenty-two water tankers headed to Swansea to help with the wide spread issues.

A majority of buildings could not be rebuilt until the 1950’s due to there being a limited supply of materials. On top of burst water mains; sewers, gas

mains and electricity were off. All together forty-four water pipes were repaired within a fortnight; as fire-fighters struggled to contain the fires some

families had to use stirrup pumps to try and save their belongings.

A diary found written by The Rev James “Jimmy” Arter, aged 26 served churches in Townhill and at the time stated he put out incendiaries by using

sandbags and how homeless people were wandering the streets trying to salvage what they can from the rubble of their homes. He wrote:

“Homeless everywhere and dead lying under ruins. People white and sick looking, self among them as this just bloody murder.”

September October November December January February

1st September 1940

Blitz No.1 happened

when the Llandarcy

oil refinery was

attacked. It lasted

several hours where

251 High explosive

bombs and over

1000 incendiaries

were dropped; 33

People were killed

and 115 injured.

17th January 1941

Blitz No.2 was intended to hit

the docks but all missed the

target; 178 high explosives

and 7000 incendiaries fell

either side of River Tawe

causing extensive damage

to St. Thomas. It started

around 8pm and finished

around 12:50am. There

were three injures but no

deaths reported.

Blitz No.1

1st September 1940

Blitz No. 3, 4 & 5

19th – 21st 1941

Blitz No.2

17th January 1941


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Some buildings survived the devastation of the town:

The ‘Bonmarché’ building just opposite

Peacocks survived and still has the lions on top

Old Swansea Police Station (However it has

Indentations from flying shrapnel)

Swansea Museum

Swansea Castle

Cross Keys Inn

Swansea Castle

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

The Palace Theatre, just up from the train station

(Unfortunately it is now left deteriorated)

Mount Pleasant Chapel/Baptist Church (Seen in the background of the image)

DEATHS, CASUALTIES AND INJURES

Three

Night Blitz

Men Women Under 16 Air-

Wardens

Messengers Rescue

Workers

Firemen

No of

deaths:

122 68 37 3 3 4 3

As seen in the table above during those three nights 227 people died; 122 men; 68 women and 37 of

them under the age of 16; while more than 400 people were injured. 3 air-wardens; 3 messengers; 4

rescue workers and 3 firemen were among those killed as they struggled to control 192 fires.

387 civilian and military personal died during all the air raids. Swansea saw The Three Night Blitz as a

total failure from the Germans. The docks and industries were largely untouched and quickly

reopened. The British moral increased as there was much support towards the city after such

devastating events. To commemorate the fallen service men a memorial statue is present at

Swansea sea front. A small plaque is also present near the marina remembering the many civilians

who had a tragic ending.



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During the whole of World War II Swansea had the highest Deaths throughout Wales and Injuries after

Cardiff in WWII:

Air Raid Casualties - Wales 1939-45

0 100 200 300 400 500

Swansea

Cardiff

Newport

Glamorgan

Pembrokeshire

Monmouthshire

Denbigh

Carmarthenshire

Caernarfonshire

Flintshire

Anglesey

Loc

ati

on

s

Number of casualties

Injuries

Deaths

SOURCES

WEBSITES

Websites I used can be seen at: https://www.diigo.com/user/devansitec/ICTProject1

BOOKS

‘When Wales went to war 1939-45’ – John O’Sullivan (2005)

‘Images of Swansea’ – South Wales Evening Post (1998). (Images used with permission)

MEDIA - DVD

‘The three nights blitz: February 19th, 20th & 21st’ – Swansea Museum

OTHER

Pictures of ‘blackout curtain’ and ‘baby gas mask’ taken at ‘1940’s Swansea Bay’ by me.

Swansea Blitz Project

Education

swansea market

blitz startedin

night blitz

lower swansea valley

theleader of germany

heavy scene

ben evans

heavy industry of shipping