Queen Victoria Square, early morning 9th May 1941 before demolition of the Prudential Building tower |
Hull's burning sky-line |
On a bright May morning 75 years ago today, the people of
Hull awoke to a scene of utter devastation. During two nights of the fiercest
bombardment of WW2, 400 people had died, hundreds were seriously hurt and 10,000
people had been made homeless. Some poorer districts of the town had been obliterated
as they lay near to the docks and riverside industrial areas which were Hitler’s
target. The main shopping area of Paragon, Bond, Prospect and King Edward
Streets had become one mass of fire. Also bombed were the Infirmary, City Hall,
Guildhall, Paragon Station, the Fire Station where three firemen were killed,
and many other key structures. The
Prudential Building by Queen Victoria Square received a direct hit, killing 16
people who were sheltering there. Its landmark tower, left standing precariously
after a direct hit, was was demolished at 9am next morning. The five major
department stores had been destroyed. Ambulance drivers, many women, drove
through walls of fire to reach victims and the streets were filled with people
fleeing the flames. The city’s fire brigade dealt with 800 fires over the two
nights. All telephone communication between East and West Hull had been cut. It
was estimated that between 32,000 and 50,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. During
1941 up to a third of the population took to sleeping in the fields outside the
city at night to avoid the bombing raids. The bodies of many who died in the
May bombing were unidentifiable and 200 were buried in a mass grave in one
ceremony. Such was the outpouring of emotion on that occasion the council vowed
never to do so again unless it was absolutely unavoidable.
In proportion to its size, Hull endured the worst bombing of
any city outside London and much of this occurred in those two horrific nights
between 7th and 9th May 1941. 95% of Hull homes were
damaged or destroyed by the end of the war, making 152,000 people homeless.
1200 people were killed. The cost of the damage was estimated at £20 million
pounds and arguably Hull has never recovered economically. None has been known
to people outside Hull until relatively recently as the MOD applied a D-notice
to reporting of the Hull Blitz. The Government did not lift this until the
1970s. It is difficult to see what justification there was for this and it did
a great injustice to survivors of the Hull blitz.
Andrew Marvell stands on his plinth in front of the ruined Co-op building |
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