Thread: The War Years
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Old 9th February 2019, 15:07
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In only five days the enemy attempted yet a third daylight raid on Yate, and this time he was successful with disastrous results. Panall aircraft ltd factory was high on the German target list. After the war it was found out that the Germans were taking pictures of the factory in August of 1939 five days before the war was declared. At 2:30 pm. a single enemy aircraft in broad daylight and unchallenged, passed over Charfield Railway
Station, flying at a low altitude with the Swastika plainly visible. The plane followed the railway line to Yate, with the undercarriage lowered to foil the defenses, and to create the impression that he was a British bomber about to land on Yate airfield. It dropped its bomb-load of six H.E. and one oil bomb before anyone in the factory could take cover, and then escaped into low lying clouds. The casualties could have been higher had it not been for three of the bombs not exploding, and there was 4,000 workers in the factory at the time. On 7 March another daylight raid on Parnalls by a single raider was pulled off again causing much damage and stopping all production. Altogether 52 workers lost their lives in the two daylight raids.



There was very little enemy air activity at night over the Bristol area due to the bad weather; however they began again in mid march.

14 March 1941 one aircraft appeared over the skies of Avonmouth and it was intercepted by a Beaufighter and was hit by machine gun fire and crashed in flames. Following German aircraft dropped their bombs in the location of the burning aircraft; no damage was done to the surrounding area.

16/17 March 1941. Bristol's Fifth Blitz. This was a mass attack and considered Bristol’s heaviest raid of the war so far. Records indicate 168 aircraft attacked Avonmouth and Bristol dropping 166 ton of H.E. Bombs and 33,840 incendiary bombs. The raid lasted eight hours with bombs raining down on the area causing a high rate of casualties. The shelter at St. Barnabas church took a direct hit killing 24 people. At Avonmouth scores of bombs fell on the dock, one cottage near the Smelting works was set on fire and the raiders used the flames to aim their bombs as 78 bomb craters were found in and around the cottage.
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29/30 March 1941
Estimated 55 1ong-range bombers carried out a fast raid on Avonmouth lasting almost two hours. This raid was centered on the oil tanks, several were set on fire. In Shirehampton some of the bombs hit the Greyhound Inn and it was destroyed, the police station was also hit. Six people were killed in Shire that night and several injured.

3/4 Apri11941.
This was a moonlight raid centered on Avonmouth and Bristol; the raid started at 9:00 pm and ended 1:0 am the following morning. Seventy-six aircraft were reported over the target and dropped 80 tons of H.E. and 19,656 incendiary bombs. The attack began on a line between the Horse Shoe Bend and Filton. Several H.E. Bombs hit Avonmouth and Shirehampton and a military convoy was damaged on the Portway. Over a 1000 homes were damaged. The number of dead for this raid were 22, and 90 injured. One of the bombs hit the A.A Battery at Markham, and one bomb fell on the army transit camp in Pen Pole.

4/5 Apri11941.
Avonmouth was once again the target for the raiders; thousands of incendiaries bombs were




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