The Cardiff Blitz (); refers to the bombing of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Between 1940 and the final raid on the city in March 1944 approximately 2,100 bombs fell, killing 355 people.BBC News , Cardiff's 'worst night' of Blitz remembered 70 years on
/ref> Cardiff Docks became a strategic bombing target for German ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' (the

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

air force) as it was one of the biggest coal ports in the world. Consequently, it and the surrounding area were heavily bombed. Llandaff Cathedral, amongst many other civilian buildings caught in the raids, was damaged by the bombing in 1941.

Bombing raids

1940–41

During 1940 the ''Luftwaffe'' targeted Cardiff on 3, 10 and 12 July and 7 August. This was followed in 1941 with raids on 2, 3 and 10 January. Over 100 bombers attacked the city over a 10-hour period beginning at 6.37 pm on the night of 2 January 1941. Dropping high explosive bombs, incendiary bombs and parachute mines, the Riverside area was the first to be bombed. In Grangetown, the Hollyman Brothers bakery was hit by a parachute mine and 32 people who were using the basement as a shelter were killed. When the raid was over 165 people had been killed and 427 more injured, while nearly 350 homes were destroyed or had to be demolished. Chapels and the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of Llandaff Cathedral were also damaged. Western Cardiff was the worst hit area, particularly Canton and Riverside, where 116 people were killed, an estimated 50 of which were killed in one street in Riverside, De Burgh Street. The 10-hour air raid had started at 18:37 and Grangetown was the first area to be hit by 100 German aircraft. Further raids followed on 27 February, through 1, 4, 12, 20 March and 3, 12, 29, 30 April and 4 to 11 May. The raid of 29 April 1941 did not have the usual precursory flares or incendiaries and instead four land mines, probably intended for the Civic Centre, were parachuted without warning soon after the siren sounded. One landed harmlessly in the Castle grounds, narrowly missing the Civic shelter, but the other three had tragic consequences. Ten died in Lewis Street in Riverside from one mine. The other two fell in Cathays on Llanbleddian Gardens and Wyverne Road, killing 23 people. This included ten members of the Palmer family who had taken cover in the Anderson Shelter in their back garden. The adjoining parish hall on Wyverne Road was destroyed, but remarkably the 4th Cardiff

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flag, carried to the Antarctic on Scott's fateful expedition, was recovered from the rubble undamaged. Cathays Cemetery had damage from a number of bombs and a landmine.

1942–44

In 1942 fewer raids occurred but two occurred on 30 June and 2 July. In 1943 some of the last raids occurred on 7 May and 17–18 May, the raid on 17 May, believed by the British press to be in retaliation for the Dambusters' raid, hit the railway station, and a unexploded bomb threatened to stop rail traffic. On the final raid, one of the bombers mistook the

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for the

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and bombed Cork in

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References

External links

Time Capsule Stories: The Blitz in Cardiff 1940sBBC World War II People's War

BBC World War II People's War

Roy Noble narrates a documentary on the Cardiff Blitz and war effort.
{{WWII city bombing, state=autocollapse The Blitz Firebombings Military history of Cardiff 1940s in Cardiff 1940 in Wales 1941 in Wales 1942 in Wales Wales in World War II

Bombing raids

1940–41

1942–44

See also

References

External links