World War II

[jamesicus]

During Whitsuntide 1941, a three day holiday that encompassed Sunday 1 June through Tuesday 3 June in that year, the Manchester region underwent its second heaviest air raid of the war. Salford and Stretford suffered heavy destruction -- fourteen nurses were killed when the Salford Royal Hospital sustained a direct hit.

Trafford Park sustained HE bomb direct hits -- Manchester United's stands and grounds were severely damaged and the team had to use Manchester City's grounds until the end of the war. LCC stands and grounds were also severely damaged -- including a huge crater next to the test cricket pitch.

[Bazf]

Originally Posted by jamesicus

Greatly increased production of vegetable food crops of all kinds was essential for the nation's wartime health and well being. Farming was designated an essential war effort occupation and farmers were provided with maximum Government support and assistance.

The Women's Land Army (WLA) was formed in 1939 to replace farmer's helpers who had been conscripted in the armed forces or to augment existing work forces. Young women were recruited and underwent intense, high caliber, training before being assigned to farms. They were uniformed in khaki shirts & jodhpurs, dark green wool pullovers and sturdy brown boots. WLA members resided on the farms to which they were assigned and performed every farm task imaginable. The program was an enormous success and the efforts of the WLA went a long way to insure the civilian population was adequately fed throughout the war. Even the smallest farms were assigned WLA members on application.

I worked on the farm of our milkman during the school summer holidays of 1940 and 1941 (and sometimes after school in the spring and early autumn) assisting the one WLA member assigned. She was very competent and hard working -- every bit as good as the farmer himself.

I seem to remember a movie in the early 90s that was about land army girls but I can't remember the name of it.

[jamesicus]

On Christmas Eve 1944, a formation of specially configured HE-111 Heinkel bombers (I/KG53 squadron) flying over the North Sea launched 45 V1 Flying Bombs (Doodlebugs) aimed at Manchester 31 of which reached the target area. Fifteen fell on Manchester, the remainder impacting in surrounding towns and sparsely populated outlying areas. BBC Report -- Doodlebug attack on Manchester

One hit a row of terrace houses in nearby Oldham killing 37 people, including some evacuees from London, and seriously wounding many others. The blast damaged hundreds of nearby homes.

Six people died when one landed on Chapel Street, Tottington, near Bury.

One of the errant V1s impacted in a farmer's field at Gregson Lane near Bamber Bridge just outside Preston. This crash site has recently been examined and recorded by the Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team (V1 Gregson Lane 24.12.1944).

This V1 raid was a rude Christmas Eve shock for people in the Manchester area, for local officials had been hinting that the danger from air raids was was pretty much over for us in the North. D-Day had heightened the expectation that the war was winding down, besides, the unexpected V1 raids had been directed against London. Certainly no one expected an air raid siren alert followed by the sound of Doodlebugs chugging across Lancashire skies during that Christmas of 1944!

The V1 raid on Manchester occurred exactly four years after the first major Air Raid on the city -- the horrendous firestorm Blitz of Christmas 1940.

[jamesicus]

One V1 that impacted near Oswaldtwistle carried a load of propaganda leaflets. Leaflets from these V1s were also found at Brindle, near Manchester and Huddersfield, Yorkshire.

Evidently a large number of V1s were loaded with propaganda leaflets. This subject is covered in meticulous detail by Herbert A. Friedman in his Web page article The German V1 Rocket Leaflet Campaign. This fascinating article explains how the leaflets were stored and dispersed and includes an impressive number of V1 related photographic images and numerous actual propaganda leaflet reproductions. It is also a treasure trove of V1 Flying Bomb information.

The British government was pretty secretive about V1 impact sites for they did not want the Germans to know the number of those that reached the target area and exactly where they had fallen.

[jamesicus]

A plan and description of the WW2 Stanhill German Prisoner of War Camp near Oswaldtwistle can be found at:

http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/di.../PoWs/pows.htm

[SPUGGIE J]

Never realised the doodlebug had that kind of range. We learn something new everyday.

[shillelagh]

My mum tells me stories about what she and her brothers and sisters did during the war except the stories what she tells arent lancashire ones because she was brought up and got married in northern ireland and didnt come over here until 1949/50. But because the republic of ireland was neutral they had tins of peaches etc that you couldnt get in the UK due to rationing so people went over the border for them especially as she only lived about 3 miles from the border.

[jamesicus]

The first British WW2 film I remember was It's in the Air (George Formby 1939) -- the following link is George Formby singing and playing Our Sgt. Major from that movie.

[jamesicus]

One of the most memorable Christmasses of my life was 1940. That Christmas Manchester was hit with a monumental air raid and one of the most intense incendiary bomb attacks of the war -- a fire storm ensued in the center of the city.

My father took me to the top of Crown Point, on the moors south of Burnley, where we could see Manchester burning -- the spectacular fires lit up the night skies across the horizon.

We worried about the safety of our relatives -- an aunt of mine (one of my mother's sisters) who lived in Salford and a close cousin of my mother who lived in Stretford next to Trafford Park -- and were greatly relieved to later learn that they had survived unscathed.

[park381]

Hey jamesicus, that is some interesting web site you got there

[jamesicus]

Thank you for the feedback, park381. I sincerely appreciate comments relating to my web site and my postings here. Your interest -- and that of others providing feedback -- makes my efforts worthwhile.

James

[park381]

Mother and self lived on Burnley road in Blackburn, with Grandparents whilst my father was away in the war, I don't have much recall of events due to my tender age at the time, but there were tales of a german bomb being dropped near the power station at Whitebirk.
I do however remember visiting the POW camp at Stanhill in later years.

[jamesicus]

A B17-G bomber "The Lady Helen", 231425, from Burtonwood AB was attacked by fighters and crashed into the mountains near Steyr in February, 1944. Survivors of the crash were captured as POW's. The pilot was named Lt. Donald Smith. The other crew members were : Lt. Sims, Co-Pilot; Lt. McConnell, Bombadier; Lt. Dender, Navigator. S/Sgt Eugene Eisele was the Ball Turret gunner but was lucky enough not to be on this mission. Some of the targets were,Cassino IT--Ploesti RO--Munich GE--Budapest HU.







S/Sgt Eugene Eisele, ball turret gunner, 49 missions

Photos courtesy of, my friends, the Eisele family.

[jamesicus]

There was another aircaft that crashed in our area of Lancashire. On 21 January 1943 a British Halifax bomber (DT581) that had strayed off-course crashed on Hoar Side Moor not far from Black Hameldon, which was later to claim B-24 42-50668 in 1945 (see previous posting of mine).

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/lait/site/Halifax%20DT581.htm

[jamesicus]

Originally Posted by jamesicus

On Christmas Eve 1944, a formation of specially configured HE-111 Heinkel bombers (I/KG53 squadron) flying over the North Sea launched 45 V1 Flying Bombs (Doodlebugs) aimed at Manchester 31 of which reached the target area. Fifteen fell on Manchester, the remainder impacting in surrounding towns and sparsely populated outlying areas. BBC Report -- Doodlebug attack on Manchester

One hit a row of terrace houses in nearby Oldham killing 37 people, including some evacuees from London, and seriously wounding many others. The blast damaged hundreds of nearby homes.

Six people died when one landed on Chapel Street, Tottington, near Bury.

One of the errant V1s impacted in a farmer's field at Gregson Lane near Bamber Bridge just outside Preston. This crash site has recently been examined and recorded by the Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team (V1 Gregson Lane 24.12.1944).

This V1 raid was a rude Christmas Eve shock for people in the Manchester area, for local officials had been hinting that the danger from air raids was was pretty much over for us in the North. D-Day had heightened the expectation that the war was winding down, besides, the unexpected V1 raids had been directed against London. Certainly no one expected an air raid siren alert followed by the sound of Doodlebugs chugging across Lancashire skies during that Christmas of 1944!

The V1 raid on Manchester occurred exactly four years after the first major Air Raid on the city -- the horrendous firestorm Blitz of Christmas 1940.

Click on the sound file on the following page for the actual sound of a V1 "Doodlebug" in flight, engine cut-out and impact:

http://timewitnesses.org/english/doodbug.html