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The Scots at War Trust

A - Z Index Miscellany

Very early in the Second World War the German airforce, the Luftwaffe, carried out a number of reconnaissance raids over Scotland taking detailed photographs of numerous potential military and industrial targets. The raids which followed resulted in great loss of life and considerable structural damage. Best known of these raids was that on the night of 13^th/14^th March 1941 on Clydeside by over 200 German bombers.

Clydeside was an obvious target where there was a huge complex of industrial production and shipyards easily located from the air by the profile of the river. Carrying incendiaries to set fire to the target area and pinpoint targets, the following bombers dropped high explosives and parachute mines. The results were devastating. 1,200 were killed, 12,000 homes were damaged and Clydebank achieved the unenviable distinction of being “the most heavily bombed town in Britain”.

Further raids in the area followed. On the night of the 6^th/7^th May 1941Greenock was the target. Dropping 500 tons of HE and 2,500 incendiaries from 12,000 feet the raiders hit not only their industrial targets but also the densely packed tenement housing in the area killing over 300.

There were many other raids too which are often forgotten today. Aberdeen, the most frequently bombed city in Scotland, was attacked 34 times and 178 people were killed. Fraserburgh, known as “Hell Fire Corner”, Peterhead and Wick all had houses damaged and altogether bombs were dropped on 92 separate locations in Scotland.

By the end of the war Scotland’s casualty list from enemy action totalled 2,298 with 2,167 injured and 3,558 slightly injured. The structural damage inflicted by the 250 enemy air operations using 6,400 HE bombs and 300 parachute mines was significant.

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