80 years on, memories of Blitz that destroyed half of Hull centre

It was London that was shaken first by the Blitz, but by the following spring the Nazis had identified other strategic targets, and the vital port of Hull was near the top of their list.

The city spent more than 1,000 hours under air raid alert between 1940 and 1945. Around 95 per cent of its houses were damaged and half the city centre destroyed. But although nearly 1,200 people lost their lives, the bombs failed to put the port out of action.

The first recorded raid on the city had been in June 1940. By the end of the year there had been 20 more. But the new year brought bombers in ever greater numbers – not just to Hull itself but along the coast to Hornsea, Bridlington and Withernsea.

Yet the people had to suffer in silence. Wartime censorship meant that Hull could be referred to in the news only as “a north east coast town”.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson