Sheffield blitz - picture strip

[Sheffield History]

The Blitz - Picture Strip

Here's something you don't see every day

A picture strip account of the Sheffield Blitz, December 12th, 1940, as experienced by a family at 77 Netheredge Road. Story as told by Joan Bell, daughter of Maurice Swift, to her son Richard who wrote and illustrated this account in 1965 (he was then aged 14).

Full documents can be found here..

http://www.wildyorkshire.co.uk/naturediary...5/5/blitz1.html

[Guest echo]

My late Uncle worked for Montague Burton Ltd (tailors) at the time of the Sheffield Blitz. He was their youngest manager - not yet old enough to be called up for war service. He managed the branch at the top of Angel Street, which is now occupied by Primark. In the 1960's Burton's rebuilt the site and opened their ladies branch of the company, Peter Robinson. He would tell us how he and other city centre workers had been issued with passes to get into the centre, should it be necessary to close it to the public. On the Monday morning after the Sunday night attack, a friend took him to work on his motorbike. It must have looked strange as both the friend's legs were in plaster casts. When they approached Wicker, they were stopped by the police at the arches and asked to produce a pass, which of course my uncle did. They were allowed through after being warned of the carnage awaiting them. The police never commented on the plaster casts on the legs. My uncle said it was an horrendous sight - bodies in the street, shop windows blown out, shops reduced to rubble and vehicles blown to bits, and on their sides. Broken water mains were cascading like fountains. When he reached Burton's it was a burnt out wreck, and as some members will remember, stayed that way until the early sixties when Burtons rebuilt the site. Evidently city planners had wanted Burton's to rebuild using the burnt out shell and they refused. Finally the site was completely cleared and a new building erected.