Hull: How the second most bombed city in the Blitz has been reborn

Through community workshops, oral history interviews with Hull people and researching in archives across the country, historians Dr James Greenhalgh and Dr Charlotte Tomlinson have built a picture of how the city has changed and what is important to its people.

The exhibition looks at some of the elements which seemed most important to the project’s volunteers and contributors and examines how Hull sees and remembers itself and its past.

The Half Life of the Blitz, courtesy of The University of Lincoln and funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council, will run until Friday January 31, tying in with the 80th anniversary of the end of Second World War.

Martin Taylor, city archivist for Hull Culture and Leisure said: “The bombing of Hull in the Second World War changed the city like nothing else in its history.

“It gave the opportunity to rebuild it anew, although one underwhelmed civil servant wrote that all that could be hoped for was to ‘make it and efficient and seemly place to do its ordinary job and hope that by doing so one would get a prosperous and reasonably happy city’.

"But the resilience which Hull citizens showed in the face of Nazi aggression was also applied as they rebuilt the City on their own terms.”

Hull was famously the second most bombed place in England during the Second World War after London, with more than 1,200 people had been killed in 82 bombing raids on the city.

Air raids on Hull went on longer than on any other British city and, out of the city’s 91,660 houses, only 5,945 survived the air raids undamaged.

Coun Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure at Hull City Council, said: “This is an exciting exhibition and one that personally I cannot wait to explore.

“It provides a fascinating insight into post-war Hull up until the present day and will be of interest to anyone who is proud of our city.

“If you think you know a lot about Hull’s modern history, think again, as there’ll be plenty to learn at The Half Life of the Blitz.”

The exhibition is open Tuesday to Thursday between 9.30am and 4.30pm, as well as the first and third Saturday of each month from 9.30am to 12.30pm. The centre will be closed from 12.30pm on Saturday December 21 and will reopen on Thursday January 2.

Dr Greenhalgh will be speaking about the post-war development of Hull at the History Centre at 12.30pm on Tuesday January 14. Admission is free.