The WW2 Sheffield bomb map.

This was the Hull book…
Very good if you’re interested in the subject..

 

Erm, that was the German Navy's main task, sinking ships. Their airforce's main task wasn't trying to blow up hundreds of isolated mine shafts.

 

No it was to disrupt industry as much as possible and grind UK down - cutting off main source of fuel would have helped

 

U boats mostly.

 

As far as I understand it, coal is a long way underground.
And attacking pit heads would have needed accuracy air forces only came close to later in the war.

 

I thought that too. Isn't coal dust explosive though?

 

Yes I did see this story on TV.heros who never came home.

 

Silly Germans; instead of attacking Russia, they should have carpet bombed Thurnscoe, Tonypandy and Bedlington. They might have won the war then.

 

It was basically over two nights, the city centre was hit, Fitzalan Square, the Moor. Atkinson's department sore was destroyed ... Wards Brewery was hit on Ecclesall Road, as was The Anchor Brewery (later Arnold Laver's) next door to Bramall Lane. Shalesmoor was in the firing line as was the Wicker... if you go to the railway bridge at the end of the Wicker you can still see the repairs. The thing that surprises me is that the Luftwaffe didn't come back, it was a prime strategic target, particularly compared to some of the ridiculous attacks they made on the Beiderbecke raids. Ambrose Shardlow & Co was the only factory in the UK making Merlin engine crankshafts at that time, to flatten that could have been a disaster.

 

Yeah but heavily bombed Coventry ... usually had large rail lines attached to the mines ... takes those out and it affects its transport

 

Tbh collieries were never a primary target, there was just too many of them, what they were though were was a third line target... if the primary target couldn't be bombed... ie low cloud or bad navigation... a smaller town or railway junction or line would be hit... if not a colliery would be used to dump the bombs on. They often missed by several miles which made it difficult to know what the intended target might have been.

 

My Uncle has just written a lovely piece on his childhood memories and he said the same thing. My dad has mentioned this in the past too.

 

I’ll not tell my dad or my uncle either!

 

They probably took one look at it and presumed it had already been bombed