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CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF DATES OF THE BRISTOL BOMBINGS.
JUNE 1997. Compiled By John Rogers.
20 June1940. German bombers appeared over Portishead, the searchlight battery spotted them and they remained in the area for 15 minutes, they dropped their bombs and they fell around the searchlight battery and into the mud on the riverbank. No air raid warning was given.
25 June 1940. The first air raid warning sounded at 12:30 am, bombs were dropped among the houses near Champion& Davies Factory in Lower Maudlin St, bombs also fell in Knowle at I:30 am, also in St. George and Bedminster, the target was supposed to be Temple Mead's Station; nine bombs fell on the station two of which failed to explode. The raid lasted three hours. The city was hit fifty times, five people killed, 33 injured.
3 July 1940. Avonmouth was bombed, all the bombs missed the target and fell in the farmer's field.
1/2 August 1940.A single German plane flying at considerable height, shortly after midnight, dropped propaganda leaflets in the thousands over southwest England; some fell in the Blackwell district near Bristol.
11/12 August 1940.Enemy planes dropped a crude-oil bomb on Shirehampton at the West Town entrance to the docks; many bombs fell into the mud on the banks of the Avon, fourteen HE bombs were dropped in and around the village, the children’s playground in the St. Bernards school which contained a underground shelter was hit, along with several homes that were damaged. During the same raid seven H.E bombs fell in Stoke Bishop and in line with Old Sneed Ave and Redland. The school shelter contained 10 people, all survived the direct hit.
15/16 August 1940. A dozen bombs landed at the end of the North Pier at Avonmouth Docks, eight near Rockingham Farm and 17 around Hallen.
24/25 August 1940. Avonmouth was bombed and two homes were destroyed on Richmond Villas near the entrance to the docks. Six more bombs landed in the mud on the banks of the Avon.
27/28 August 1940. At 9.0 pm. Avonmouth came under attack with Incendiaries bombs dropped first followed by HE bombs, all hit the Petroleum tanks, the other bombs fell on the fields between Avonmouth and Shirehampton. Six more craters were found out near the Lawrence Weston fields.
It appeared the targets for the month of September was the railway lines from Bristol to Avonmouth, all along the line between Sea Mills, Shirehampton, and Avonmouth several bombs fell alongside the rails all missing the rails by about six feet. Many of the bombs
Remained in the ground un-exploded and the Army Bomb Disposal recovered them. One of the bombs a 250 pounder remained in the Sea Mills Creek until April 1951.
1 /2 September 1940. Avonmmouth and Shirehan1pton was bombed again, the Miles Arms Hotel and houses in Davis St took direct hits. Two people were killed, a young woman and her daughter.
3 /4 September 1940. Shirehampton was bombed, several homes destroyed.
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