Air raid on Walsall

Galdri.

I’ll see what I can find. But if I’m struggling do we really have to wait four weeks? Can’t you just pop home in your lunch break;):D

As always, I appreciate any help I can get.

Regards,

kev35

the poster on LEMB referred to Ju88c‘s being involved in something called “Laufend Nachtjagdeinsatz” which I believe roughly translates to constant night fighting?
kev35

HI Kev,
I´m back at it with my very limited knowledge 😮 The comment on LEMB regards the Ju-88C which was a Zerstörer, a term that might be loosely translated as “Destroyer”, and was applied by the Germans to heavy fighters/fighter bombers. The Bf-110 was also called a Zerstörer right from the start of the war. The difference between a Zerstörer and a normal Ju-88 bomber was the substitution of the glazed nose with a solid gun pack nose. There were not very many of them in service on the date of your incident!
The most numerous Ju-88 in service at the time of your incident would have been the BOMBER version Ju-88A4 which was a fully fledged bomber.

I´d say that the first thing to do is to track down the Luftwaffe Order of Battle for the period in question. Given the time of the incident, it is reasonable to assume that a lot of Luftwaffe units would have been deployed to the East, so you´d need to know what units were left in the west and what aircraft they operated. For this the Order of Battle is just perfect! When you know what units were in the west, you can start investigating individual units (and they will not be many, that are capable of carrying a 1000kg bomb!).

If no one comes up with the Order of Battle (in the west) for June 1941, I´ll have a look through my books when I get home in 4 weeks time and see what I´ll find. I´m sure I have this somewhere, I remember how the book looks like but can´t remember the title!:eek::D:D

Baz.

I do appreciate and accept that Ju88’s were involved in air raids. but the poster on LEMB referred to Ju88c’s being involved in something called “Laufend Nachtjagdeinsatz” which I believe roughly translates to constant night fighting? If you have the references to confirm which units, however equipped, were operating over England on the night of 11th/12th June 1941 it would be great to see them. I admit it’s an area I know little about so would appreciate any information which helps to pinpoint possible units involved.

regards,

kev35

T A comment on another forum seems to suggest that Ju88’s were more involved in intruder work. We’ll probably never know for certain. Isn’t that annoying?

Regards,

kev35

Ju 88’s were most definitely used on bombing raids Kev !
If I may quote a few dates from Peter Stahl’s ‘Diving Eagle’ autobio

23/11/40
Minelaying Thames
28/11/40
Bombing Liverpool
29/11/40
Bombing London
15/1/41
Bombing Derby
etc etc

As an ‘experten’ PS was allowed his own targets when not reqd for normal ‘ops’ – this quite often was Linton on ouse – with Hull/Humber shipping as alternate.
Within a 6 month period his crew attacked targets ranging from Portsmouth to Greenock.

rgds baz

Icare9.

There was considerable damage. The building hit by the bomb more or less ceased to exist. Other parts of the factory were damaged but the extent of the damage was not reported. By 1400 hours that afternoon, all the major services were being reconnected at the site. Many properties were damaged. One family had the end house in a row of terraced housing which started at the factory drive way. The end outside wall was cracked horizontally from the front to the back of the house at about waist height. Instead of a dado rail they had two steel girders, one inside and one outside, to hold the wall together for about the next 20 years. The same house had extensive damage to the roof with at least one beam landing on the bed of their son who was away in the Army. It seems that up to 50 families may have been evacuated whilst repairs were carried out to their homes while others chose to stay. There was some damage to the nearby Croft St. School but it was minor compared to the damage sustained just over a year later. There are no confirmed figures but it seems injuries were relatively minor and confined to perhaps no more than a dozen people.

As for the pond in our garden, it was apparently drained and become the last resting place of the family goat.

J Boyle.

It is fascinating stuff. When I was in the LHC yesterday and handling the original copy of the Chief Constable’s report on the raid it does bring the history to life. The texture of the paper and the smell. I lloked through a number of other original papers regarding Civil Defence and it is surprising how I knew the names of many of the people involved in Civil Defence. I actually went to school with many of their grandchildren. If only I had the opportunity to talk to them now.

It’s the sixty ninth anniversary of the raid this Saturday. I think I might place some flowers on their graves and leave messages for the families to contact me if they have any information.

I think there’s probably a lot more information to come on this, and whatever I find is expanding my knowledge of life on the Home Front.

We’ll probably never know for certain. Isn’t that annoying?
Regards,
kev35

Considering it’s sixty-nine years after the fact…what you’ve learned isn’t half bad. 😀
At least thanks to the internet, some records are fairly easy to access.

Presumably the 6th worker survived?

Name: BAKER, THOMAS ARTHUR
Initials: T A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
Age: 31
Date of Death: 12/06/1941
Additional information: of 49 Litchfield Road, Sheffield. Son of H. Baker. Died at Messrs. Bates’ premises, Hospital Street.
Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority: WALSALL, COUNTY BOROUGH

Name: GEE, RAYMOND
Initials: R
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
Age: 30
Date of Death: 12/06/1941
Additional information: Firewatcher. Son of the late Charles William and Caroline Gee; husband of Lily Gee, of 106 Goscote Lodge Crescent. Died at Messrs. Bates’ premises, Hospital Street.
Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority: WALSALL, COUNTY BOROUGH

Name: SMITH, WILLIAM MILES
Initials: W M
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
Age: 17
Date of Death: 12/06/1941
Additional information: Son of Charles Henry Smith, of 78 Hospital Street. Died at Messrs. Bates’ premises, Hospital Street.
Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority: WALSALL, COUNTY BOROUGH

Name: EDWARDS, RICHARD
Initials: R
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
Age: 35
Date of Death: 12/06/1941
Additional information: Firewatcher. Husband of Lilian Edwards, of 62 Burrows Street. Injured at Messrs. Bates’ premises, Hospital Street; died same day on way to General Hospital.
Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority: WALSALL, COUNTY BOROUGH

Name: PARTRIDGE, RALPH CHARLES
Initials: R C
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Civilian
Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
Age: 17
Date of Death: 12/06/1941
Additional information: Firewatcher. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Partridge, of 40 Oak Crescent, Leamore. Injured at Messrs. Bates’ premises, Hospital Street; died same day at Manor Hospital.
Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority: WALSALL, COUNTY BOROUGH

The “typical” blast bomb was the 1000kg parachute or “land” mine, or the Herman (see: http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/bombs.html. The He111 certainly could carry these, I think up to 2 externally. Even the Fw190 could carry one, but don’t think they were involved!

It certainly seems that a lot less than the normal damage from a bomb that size…. Perhaps there is one more…. ever wondered what is at the bottom of that pond in your garden?

The factory was, I believe, involved in electro-plating. It was a decent size but apparently not significant enough to be marked on a luftwaffe target map. As for what it was actually producing, I couldn’t tell you yet. However, I found out today that within hours of the bombing an official from the Ministry of aircraft Production was on the scene to survey the damage.

I’ve found a little about the SC1000. I have a feeling it would have been a He 111 carrying out this attack. A comment on another forum seems to suggest that Ju88’s were more involved in intruder work. We’ll probably never know for certain. Isn’t that annoying?

Regards,

kev35

Hi Kev,
The Luftwaffe certainly used 1000 kg. bombs at that time in the war. There were two designations that I can think of right now, the SB 1000 and the SC 1000. They were carried on underslung pylons on both the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 88. Not much help there I´m afraid.

Fascinating stuff. I love reading “local” history like this.
We’ve all read “big picture” stuff, but events like these tell us about the war as seen by the public.
What did the factory produce?
Was it large (or vital) enough to warrant special Luftwaffe attention…or (as suggested) was it just in the wrong place to receive bombs originally meant for another target?

A visit to the LHC this afternoon found a lot more information. A report on the raid seems to suggest that an alert was sounded and at 0325 on the morning of the 12th, a single bomb, believed at the time to be 1,000Kgs, was heard to fall. The bomb hit an office building on the site of the factory of Wm. Bate Ltd. The building was totally destroyed and there were in fact six workers buried in the rubble. All were recovered but five were either dead or dying. It is the first time I have ever heard that there were six buried rather than the five normally remembered. Debris from the blast damaged housing over 500 yards away.

I have been in contact with a man who went to the scene after his house was damaged by the blast. He remembers that one of the young lads who died that night had only gone as a replacement for someone who wanted the night off. He earned five shillings and a very early grave.

Were 1,000kg bombs used by the Luftwaffe? And if so, which aircraft types would have routinely carried them?

Regards,

kev35

I have the details of all five casualties including addresses. I also got the local press report and the family death notices today as well.

Local press reports and death notices state that the raid took place on the evening of the 11th of June 1941 but CWGC records the deaths as the 12th. In fact it is likely that two of the deaths did occur on the 12th as two of the victims died either on the way, or shortly after admission to Walsall’s Manor and General Hospitals.

I’ve now spoken to a couple of people who remember the factory being bombed and they refer to it as being on a Wednesday night (11th.) It appears it was a single aircraft which dropped a single bomb. It seems that either the bomb aimer was extremely accurate or the bomb was dropped in hope rather than expectation as within 2 kilometres of the factory which was hit were numerous other industrial targets. (As confirmed by a Luftwaffe target map I was viewing this afternoon.)

Does anyone know of any way in which I can establish which Luftwaffe units were operating over England on the night of the 11th/12th June 1941?

Regards,

kev35

Just a thought off the top of my head…

As it was a single aircraft that attacked might Walsall have been a secondary target for a bigger raid elsewhere?

Roger Smith.

Hi Kev,

I suspect you may already have the info from the CWGC civilian war dead list for your area, but in case you don’t you can find it here http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=4005018&mode=1

Some of the information for the casualties could be useful for your research as it often includes the home address of the person as well as the place they died. For example this one:-
Name: EDWARDS, RICHARD Initials: R Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Civilian Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead Age: 35 Date of Death: 12/06/1941 Additional information: Firewatcher. Husband of Lilian Edwards, of 62 Burrows Street. Injured at Messrs. Bates’ premises, Hospital Street; died same day on way to General Hospital. Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead Reporting Authority: WALSALL, COUNTY BOROUGH

In case some of the fatalities were not buried at Walsall you may like to check out other civilian war dead from the cemeteries listed on this website for Staffordshire http://www.purecollector.com/history/cwgc/Civilian.html

Hope that helps
Regards
Linzee