swansea and the Blits version 2

Swansea and the Surrounding areas in the Blitz.

Through these sources I will be looking at how Swansea and other areas prepared for the invasion from Germany, how it affected innocent people and the roles of individuals who protected and fought for us during the Blitz.

This section is I’ll be looking at preparation up to the war in Swansea and the surrounding area.

Source A1 is a written piece of evidence by Ray Farmer at the time of World War 2. It’s a primary piece of evidence because he was there at the time of the event, but he is recalling it from 40 to 50 years ago so he could be fantasising about what happened to make it more exciting but that highly unlikely because I doubt a person would forget what happened during the blitz. In the source he tells us that already the air raid precaution organisation, soon to prove itself with actions beyond the call of ordinary duty in Swansea blitz in place, a natural organisation of women volunteers, the WVS was forming, home and public shelters built, gas masks issued, street fighting volunteer teams being formed and all kinds of defence training undertaken. This source tells me that even before the attack Britain was already being trained for the war even before it had even started. He also says he had a certificate, number 34, and is dated December 20 1938, attesting to his completion of messenger (it included a course of poison gases). He was not yet 15. This tells me that they were even recruiting young boys to get ready for the war. In the article it also shows photographic evidence of a bomb that was 22,000lb the largest bomb ever to be loaded in Swansea docks.

Source A2 is an evening post publication published in February 2001. It’s written by a journalist, which means it’s a secondary source of evidence because he posted it in 2001 and he wasn’t there at the time of the event. The first paragraph in the article he describes the role of individuals. Policemen for the first and only time were issued with rifles and revolvers. Around coastal areas and deep inland, particularly in the south of Britain and especially on beaches and estuaries suitable for sea borne landings, pill-boxes, sandbagged and concrete emplacements, barbed wire entanglements, tank traps and road blocks multiplied. On high ground above the Berthlwyd a six-inch coast defence gun, set in concrete emplacement to try and stop any boats coming onto land and so on. They did this because they thought Germans might try to come on land by sea, but they didn’t. To prepare for the war they also broadcasted to the nation to apple for men between the age of 17 and 65, and their function would be to guard steel, coal and oil factories, railways which would be transporting coal and oil and other vital points against enemy paratroops. Many people though who worked in coalmines at the time could go to the army because they still needed coal whilst the blitz was happening. So many people enlisted and volunteered to join to help Swansea that there wasn’t enough uniforms and equipment to go around for everyone for month.

Source A3 is taken from a textbook about the bombing in Swansea published in 1980. The name of the book was called ‘Eye of the Eagle’. It says one conceders the substantial contribution Wales made to the British economy, what its saying is Germans were mainly interested in attacking Swansea because of its metal and chemical industries, its oil terminal at Llandacy and the dock complex (This would have been an obvious focus for the Germans interests. Germans also sent spies out to Swansea to find out about the town. They sent plans over Swansea to take pictures of the area and they purchased maps of the town and edited it into German. They knew what they were looks for whilst flying over. Luftwaffe aircrafts photographed large areas of Britain, flying too high and to fast for any chance of the interruption by fighter aircrafts or anti-air craft artillery. They went about their business for several months without being caught. Germans produced the Swansea area in books for the Luftwaffe and Submarines for Germans to understand and they even made models of Swansea bay area.

Source 4 is an Evening Post publication, written in February 2001. It’s a local newspaper written by a journalist, the article is called ‘Before the bombs- the old town’. It’s useful because you can compare Swansea before and after the Blitz and see the difference. It’s says ‘town of Swansea that existed before WW2 was very different to the city of today’. Meaning most of what Swansea looks like now is completely different and has changed and hard to recognise, also meaning that Swansea was hit badly by the German bombs and had to be rebuilt resulting in the change and the look of Swansea in today’s society. ‘Straight and wide streets, spacious shops and a covered shopping centre would not have figured in the wildest dreams of any for-sighted 1939 entrepreneur’. What this source is telling us is the quadrant and other parts of Swansea buildings and shopping centres didn’t exists until after the war because they newly built buildings had to be made from scratch after the war because of the destruction the was had left. Now 60 years after the destruction of such streets, few people can recall all buildings of the old town centre with great clarity, mostly elderly people of today hardly remember what Swansea was like because of a great change the was had left.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Source 5 is a section of a German newspaper made in Germany at the time of the event of the Blitz; it is then translated below the article. It was issued in Berlin 17 February1943. The source talks about the bombing on Swansea on the 16th February 1943. It says, “In the evening hours of the 16th February, German bombers carried out a half attack against the important English port of Swansea at the entrance to the Bristol Channel. In spite of the incursions of numerous hostile might fighters, who tried in incendiary bombs were dropped over the industrial quarter and the harbour area, and above all, numerous fires sprang up in the dock installations. On their return flight the German pilots observed the glow of the fires from a distance of over 30km- Swansea, one of the most significant ports in England, is also one of the most important ports for re-shipment or supplies and materials to British troops fighting over seas.’ It gives us factual information on exactly what happened that evening. But during the War German newspapers were not aloud to publish certain documents about bad points of Germany in the newspaper only good points. What the article doesn’t say is that they also bombed hospitals, homes, innocent people and other emergency buildings, resulting into that the German public didn’t find out about what happened because they wanted the German people to think they were the good guys. This was caused by Propaganda; Dr Joseph Gubbles only issued them to print positive information to the German public on the invasion on Swansea and other relevant facts of the German destruction. Propaganda was watching the newspapers and other broadcasts closely.

This next section is about the effect on the lives of people and individuals before and during the blitz.

Source 1 is an evening post publication written in February 2001. The publication is called ‘Finding shelter where possible’, it shows a picture of a family living by a shelter Anderson shelter). This source is about the effects it had on family and the build up to the Anderson shelter. It says ‘There was nothing fancy about the approach to the preservation of life in the war time.’ The 3 means were: trenches, public shelters (mostly meaning underground, but Swansea didn’t have many underground during the war) and private shelters (meaning home shelters, like Anderson shelters). Work started on building 5oo communal shelters in April 1939 in the 10 most densely populated areas of Swansea, meaning they started to build shelters even before the war had began, maybe they saw what was going to happen and realised that they needed to build safe place to protect the public from being attacked by bombs and to move away from there home which could easily be targeted. However they were not well advanced by the time of the outbreak of the war in September 1939, and the Air Raid Precaution committee resorted to requisitioning basements as public shelters. Also id there was a bomb or air raids then the authorities were aloud to use a basement in public shelters. An estimated 30,000 domestic shelters needed in Swansea only 6,549 had been put up by the outbreak of the war. This meant there was more then half of Swansea who had a lack of Anderson shelters to protect them selves. This meant they hadn’t finished building Anderson shelters and other protective holding places by the time the war came. At the time of the 3 night Blitz, basements were the main type of shelters in central Swansea.

Source 2 show a pictorial evidence of women in informs, meaning that because men had all gone into war women had to take on the roles of working in factories, shops and so on. Many women were young and they wanted to take an individual role to show how dedicated they are to there work and what they do. The picture was taken from a textbook in 1988 called ‘Memories of Swansea at war.’ Source 3 is called ‘The three nights of fire’ taken from a textbook in 1994. It’s a written piece of evidence because it was written by Ivy Edwards who was there during the blitz, but because it was written 50 years after the war and she was only a young child at the time she could be saturating a bit. ‘During the Blitz he didn’t even come home for a whole week. I didn’t know where he was and he didn’t know if we were alive or not.’ Here Ivy is talking about her husband Tom who could have possibly been fighting or guarding during the war and would have to go away for a while meaning woman and children had no clue what could possibly be happening to the man of the family whist he was away fighting, they’d just have to wait till they herd some new from them, but it was unlikely. Ivy became a dab hand at motor machines, mending punctures and coaxing the carburettor into life. ‘Her Morris car was started by a crank handle and when she was making calls she had to remove the rotor arm to disable it at every stop.’ This backs up source 2 because it show a picture of women at work and in this source Ivy is talking bout the jobs she had to do when her husband was away and that he’d normally have to do them jobs.

Source 4 shows pictorial evidence of Air-Raid wardens taken from a textbook in 1988 called ‘Memories of Swansea at was.’ It shows lots of men dressed in hard gear meaning that their job is dangerous, there’s lots of men (meaning many men volunteered to protect their country), also it shows a different variety of women in a range of different ages maybe around 16 to 60 something of age. This is useful because it shows how young people were also involved in the war. Source 5 is an evening post reporter interviewing two boys who remember the final bombing raid on Swansea, ET they are recalling events from over 50 years ago. It says ‘Two Swansea men, teenagers at the time of the raid, 54 years ago this coming Sunday lived to tell the tale purely due to a double stroke of luck.’ They were both two young boys, Alan Ayres had been Lord Mayor and Frank Bevan was Major during investiture Years- position far removed from their jobs as locomotive depot on the night of the final raid, because of their age and there now talking about it over 50 years ago there facts could be embellished but its highly unlikely they would, et the source is useful because the reporter is asking people about what happened to them during the was and what it was like for them. There tale begins once the pair were hurrying home after being released a few minutes early that day’s 2pm until 10pm shift. As they headed into darkness they came aware of the familiar drone of the German bomber. Looking up, a break in the clouds confirmed their fear. Lucky break number 1 came when, in there innocence, they actually stopped to watch the menacing aircraft. Second piece of luck was were the pair lived opposite one another in Jersey Street, there was a long sweeping bend in the road, but for those two facts the pair are convinced their progress would have put them right where a German bomb had dropped. The bomb demolished 4 houses, left an enormous crater in the road and killed a number of people residents. It also struck a gas main and the resulting fire sent flames shooting high into the air illuminating the whole area. If they hadn’t stopped to look up they would have probably walked straight into the blasting flames or even gotten caught in the bomb. This source is useful because it describes the effects of teenagers during the war and the horrific fear they had about going home and leaving work at night and having a bomb dropped on them.

This last section is about how people’s lives were affected by the German bombing in Britain.

Source C is called ‘Dock were ablaze- off went dad,’ taken from a textbook in 1988 named ‘Memories of Swansea at war.’ It reads, ‘I was only ten years old at the time of The Three Night Blitz and lived in Taliesin Road, Town hill’. The source is written by Mrs M .J. Rees and she was only ten at the time of the attack, this affects the reliability of the source because she is writing it over 50 years later. She said that her father, Edgar Fair, was head warden in the Town Hill area. This backs up the roll of individuals in the war and it talks about the role of individuals in source B3, where Ivy’s husband went to war and had to leave his family. She then goes on to say ‘My father then left to perform his duties as warden. On the Thursday, my aunts from St. Thomas joined us, having been force by the bombing to leave there homes. That night the bombing started again, and we went in the Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden.’ This back up source B1 were families had to go to there Anderson shelters for cover and she also talks about, later on, how life in Anderson shelters was like. She also says that at school her father was on duty organising shelters for the homeless. It backs up the role of individuals and that her father was a good man by doing his job and looking after the community.

Source 2 is called ‘Courage of nurses’ taken from a textbook named ‘Memories of Swansea at war.’ It a letter about the bravery of nurses during the blitz. It reads, ‘I was an 18 year old who was in hospital with diphtheria, as this was an isolation hospital for fevers. When the Blitz started the nurse’s staff could have gone to shelter in the ground, but the brave young girls stayed put and never panicked at all when the whistling bombs dropped all around the hospital.’ Tells us that nurses just got on with their work and tried not to fear or imagine what was happening around them. Nurses stay and look after the patients but they didn’t have to they merely wanted to. There were two nurses named white who kept them in touch with what was going on outside, meaning the nurses kept the patients in touch at all times with what was happening with the bombing and devastation outside of the hospital walls. He then goes on to say ‘8 months later I experienced the war in Germany when I volunteered for the Royal Air Force in bombing command. We bombed different cities of Germany giving them 10 times what they gave us. But our luck ran out and we were shoot down bombing out own Twin Town, Mannheim. I was taken prisoner later of war at 3pm on January 5th 1945.’ This tells us that later on after being in hospital whilst the bombing were happening around him he experienced fighting Germany himself. Source C3 is a pictorial evidence of the damage to the nurses’ sitting room in the old Swansea hospital taken from a textbook in 1988 called ‘Memories of Swansea at war.’ In the picture it shows to nurses still in uniforms look up at the sealing that was and is now rubble in a hospital. The nurses are still in uniform meaning that the hospital is still running even though there still a war going on out side and it’s getting hit. Even though it did affect people it did affect there moral and they just got on with their lives and daily work. This picture gives evidence of the Germans bombing not only industrial areas but civilian areas. The source backs up C2 because John Healy says that even though there nurses could go home, they were brave and stayed whilst the bombs were going on around them. These sources describe to me that during the Blitz the nurses really cared about looking after their patients and they were determined to stay put no matter what was happening out side.

Source C4a is a pictorials evidence of the remains of David Evans store in Swansea, taken from a textbook in 1988. The picture shows the destruction and rubble left from the store. The building is totally destroyed because it’s been hit by the Germans bombers. You can see that the building is left with no ruff, no glass windows, hardly any walls left and you can just see that there is no back wall to the building, it’s totally demolished. The building is black and starch because it been hit by a bomb and all the smoke and flames that were has left it all black and horrid. Most bombings bombed stores and working areas meaning it left thousands of people unemployed and people cant buy anything because there’s nothing there, you cant access them because of all the rubble and its blocking road ways also its not even safe to be in a targeted area. This must have left people worries, feeling low and scared just to walk about in day and night. Source C4b is a then and now pictorial evidence of Oxford Street Swansea before and after the bombings, taken from an Evening post publication in February 2001. You can tell just by looking at the after picture that it took them a while to rebuild most of Swansea because it was taken almost 30 years after, this left a long term affect on the people of Swansea. The picture show rubble all over the place, buildings completely demolished and some just the doors left standing. This rubble is so high it would be impossible to move a car through the road. These sources back up Source A4 were it talks about Swansea before the destruction and show a picture of Swansea before the bombs hit.

Source C5 is an Evening Post Publication written in February 2001. The publication is called ‘There was only rubble- I couldn’t find anyone.’ It reads, ‘The Three Night Blitz divested Swansea and broke the hearts of its people. The raids of February 19, 20 and 21, 1941, killed 230 and seriously injured 409 other’ This is telling me that the Germans really made them feel low and heart broken, and that the Germans were obviously missing there target and hitting innocent people, which they weren’t telling the Germany people that as it talks about in A5 were propaganda watched what newspapers were publishing they were aloud to writing negative thing about what the German air-force was doing only the good. ‘St. Mary’s parish church, for example, did not reopen worship until 1959, the huge Oxford street market, with its two acre roof of glass iron, was not rebuilt until 1961. Meaning it left a long term affect and it took over 20 years just to rebuild Swansea because of such damage it left. It also says ‘Ivy Edwards, she has a small business which sold household goods from door to door and Ivy has to collect money customers.’ It talks about Ivy in B3 about the role of women and her husband left to fight for his country leave Ivy to do all the mans work let alone her own. ‘I had to walk to Town hill to get some money in but there was only rubble. I couldn’t find anyone. The town was all flat. When I got to my mother’s, I sat down and howled- that was the only time it got to me.’ This tells me that it left peoples moral low and left them feeling emotional and the deviation. Source 5A is pictorial evidence taken from an Evening Post Publication in February 2001. The picture is turned rubble, the once was bustling town centre of Swansea lies deserted and devastated after repeated enemy attacks, which saw many die and hundreds injured. This would have been a crowded area where loads of people would come to shop, resulting in to many lived lost and a long term damage on rebuilding the town back to what it would have been. It backs up source C5 where it talks about the long term damage on town and other public areas and that the Germans were bombing miles off there target! This source also backs up source A4 were it talks about what Swansea was like and it also shows dictatorial evidence of what it looked like before the bombing attacks and that after the long term damage and the rebuilding were done, now 60 years after few people cant recall the buildings of the old towns centre with great clarity.

To conclude what I’ve found, I’ve noticed that Swansea was not et ready for what the Germans were going to do to are towns and villages but they knew it was coming sooner or later so they still did little things like shelters which saved many lives in 1939 to 1945 and that even though it left a long term affect it made Swansea town people care more about what they have and it improved the look and aspect of Swansea into a more improved town. Even though the Germans hit us hard we gave them 10 times more then what they gave us. Also I found that many people cared about protecting there community and others, because of the roles of individuals it made it helpful for people to find save places to stay if in danger and need of shelter. They saved many lives with there role but not all were saved, many lives were lost and some to be forgotten but without there brave enthusiasms many more would have died and Britain would have lost the War.