Christmas Blitz THE CHRISTMAS BLITZ 1940 For 3 nights the area came under attack with heavy bombing causing mass destruction and loss of life. It became name as ' The Christmas Blitz' 20th December 1940 The North Liverpool docks are the target and take heavy bombing. The Adelphi hotel has a near miss, but the Town Hall, Municipal Buildings and Cunard Offices are hit and fires start within them. The Landing Stage also takes a blow. A parachute mine lands at Waterloo Dock killing 9 people. I have found details for 8 of those who died. 21st DECEMBER 1940 The heaviest raid to date hits Liverpool. Fires burn in many places causing utter chaos. Canada, Gladstone, Brocklebank, Princes, Wapping, King's and Carriers Docks all bombed. Royal Infirmary hit with damage to houses nearby. Other bombs hit St George's Hall, the Electric Station at Highfield Street, Prescot Street Police Station and the Fish Market at Hatton Garden. Several air raid shelters are hit with serious loss off life. Most areas to the North and South of Liverpool city centre are hit as are other areas of the city on this night of destruction. 22nd DECEMBER 1940 Canada, Huskisson and Alexandra Docks bombed.
Hi, Clive. My father's unit, 7th Loyals (which later became 92nd LAA), were based in Liverpool during the December 1940 blitz. This is from my regimental history ... As the Blitz took its terrible toll, the 7th Loyals were drafted in to help tackle gigantic fires which blazed for days in Liverpool’s Gladstone and Alexandra docks. Throughout Christmas, contingents of 100 soldiers battled night and day. During one dramatic operation, the men found themselves wading up to their ankles through molten rubber, which was flowing off a blazing ship. ‘There was a consignment of Wellington boots nearby on the dockside and we grabbed them and put them on to protect ourselves,’ Ronald Prince recalled. To the men’s indignation, a punctilious officer warned them they might face a looting charge. However, reason apparently prevailed and no such charges materialised. For many men of the 7th, this period was doubly agonising, because Liverpool and Birkenhead were their home towns. As they stood guard and saw the night skies ablaze, or fought fires in the midst of the air raids, they had no way of knowing if their loved ones had become victims. ‘The bombing was very bad,’ said Tom Mason. ‘It was hell on Earth.’ Michael Cullen recalled: ‘The Germans had started in earnest to bomb the docks and town. We had been sent over to help unload the large shells and distribute same to the many heavy ack-ack (anti-aircraft) batteries that ringed the city. The raids were very heavy at times. The whole city seemed to be on fire. The noise of the guns and explosions was deafening. As we went through the streets, we could hear the “ping-ping” of the shrapnel as it bounced off the pavements. The fire engines and ambulances were working non-stop through the night. It was mayhem.’ It was the Blitz that inflicted the battalion’s first fatal casualty. As the air raids disrupted civilian services, the 7th took on postal duties during the busy Christmas period and Private Albert Stones, who volunteered for this work, was killed by a bomb blast in billets in Bootle on December 21.
Photo of his headstone from my collection PRIVATE ALBERT EDWARD STONES Service Number: 3863483 Regiment & Unit/Ship The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) 7th Bn. Date of Death Died 21 December 1940 Buried or commemorated at ST. PANCRAS CEMETERY Service Plot, Joint Grave 69. Country of Service United Kingdom
Thanks, Clive - I've never seen that headstone before. Almost all the 7th Loyals recruits were from the Merseyside area (mainly Liverpool), and other parts of Lancashire, but Albert obviously either came from London or had family connections there.
