End of the Steel Industry

[Guest Lolia]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I read that Sheffield was hit by two German bombs in 12 December and 15 December 1940; and that more than 660 lives were lost and numerous buildings were destroyed.

I have two questions please for my ongoing research on my beloved Sheffield

1) Do you know which area of Sheffield was hit? Where the buildings were destroyed the most?

2) I heard that the aim of that bomb was to destroy Sheffield's steel industry, did it succeed so? If not, could you please tell me when the offical 'final day' for the steel industry was?

I look forward to hearing from you great Sheffielders

Many thanks in advance

[Guest tsavo]

Hi Lolia, Sheffield had a lot more bombs than the two you mention. The city centre took the brunt of the raids, with the Marples Hotel taking a direct hit with the loss of many lives. For more on the Sheffield Blitz, see the section, "Sheffield During the War."

[RichardB]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I read that Sheffield was hit by two German bombs in 12 December and 15 December 1940; and that more than 660 lives were lost and numerous buildings were destroyed.

I have two questions please for my ongoing research on my beloved Sheffield

1) Do you know which area of Sheffield was hit? Where the buildings were destroyed the most?

2) I heard that the aim of that bomb was to destroy Sheffield's steel industry, did it succeed so? If not, could you please tell me when the offical 'final day' for the steel industry was?

I look forward to hearing from you great Sheffielders

Many thanks in advance

Just what would have happened if those bombs had hit the right spot ?

Was there an determined effort to get the Bombers to hit the wrong target (Star ....) ?

Given the loss of life, was it right to misdirect the bombers to the Moor/High Street area ? (Of course it was, please discuss)

Which major manufacturers were "spared" on those bombing raids ? What did they manufacture ?

Would the War effort have been affected if those factories had been hit/destroyed ?

How did the Blitz of Sheffield compare to the kicking Coventry got ?

Would you personally have dedicated the loss of the High Street and the Town Hall for a random 700 square yards of Attercliffe ?

Why didn't they come back and give it another go, once they realised they had made a Pigs Ear of it ?

[Guest Jeremy]

Sheffield blitz at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Blitz

Jeremy

[dunsbyowl1867]

Just what would have happened if those bombs had hit the right spot ?

Was there an determined effort to get the Bombers to hit the wrong target (Star ....) ?

Given the loss of life, was it right to misdirect the bombers to the Moor/High Street area ? (Of course it was, please discuss)

Which major manufacturers were "spared" on those bombing raids ? What did they manufacture ?

Would the War effort have been affected if those factories had been hit/destroyed ?

How did the Blitz of Sheffield compare to the kicking Coventry got ?

Would you personally have dedicated the loss of the High Street and the Town Hall for a random 700 square yards of Attercliffe ?

Why didn't they come back and give it another go, once they realised they had made a Pigs Ear of it ?

Doesn't the story go that the German bomber were following two beams which should have intersected at the Wellington pub on Brightside Lane. The British managed to "bend" these and that's how they ended up dumping their bombs on the city centre?

[DaveH]

Doesn't the story go that the German bomber were following two beams which should have intersected at the Wellington pub on Brightside Lane. The British managed to "bend" these and that's how they ended up dumping their bombs on the city centre?

That's the story Dunsbyowl, I've heard it several times, have mentioned it in the Sheffield during the war forum and have seen the story related in a Sheffield Blitz video.

One of the radio beam transmitters was near Breast in Brittany in NW France and the other was near Ghent in Belgium and also close to the luftwaffe air base they had the mission of bombing Sheffield. The 2 beams crossed over the Wellington on Brightside Lane. In theory every bomb should have fallen there (or very close) in the centre of Sheffield steel and armaments industry.

The Germans flew along the Ghent beam using directional radio receivers. As they approached Sheffield they would eventually pick up the intersecting beam from Brest, the first signal pick up opened the bomb doors (over Derbyshire / Nottinghamshire) and when the signal reached its maximum strength the bombs were dropped over target.

As British intelligence knew this was happening and importantly knew the exact radio frequency being used they could set up a similar transmitter "somewhere in England" to interfere with the German signals and give an apparent "bending" of the beams so that they crossed somewhere else, over a different target. However, there were technical reasons which limited the amount of bend and in any case if the bend was more than just a small amount the Germans would realise what was happening. As a result much of the bombing on Dec 12 fell on the City centre. Even so, either by reconnaisance or otherwise the Germans were aware of missing their target and returned on Dec 15 on an attck where beam bending had little or no effect. They either used a different navigation system are allowed for the British tactics.

I always thought the story was a bit too technical for the early 1940's but it is claimed to be true. However, when German aircrew involved in this mission were interviewed the lead aircraft which dropped flares over the target to guide the following bombers admitted that on Dec 12 due to visibility he had probably mistook The Moor for Attercliffe Common as they run in similar Sw to NE direction and he couldn't make out Attercliffe easily due to winter mist in the Don valley.

[HughW]

could you please tell me when the offical 'final day' for the steel industry was?

The steel industry has never 'ended'. Before the recent slump Sheffield was producing more steel than it ever had in the past (but using a tiny fraction of the old mass workforce).

Hugh