Swansea Blitz

Swansea Blitz
Part of the Strategic bombing campaign of World War II
Mothers and children in a working-class area of Swansea have tea and sandwiches from a mobile canteen after a night's bombing (Photo: Imperial War Museums)
Date 1941 Location Swansea
Belligerents
Nazi Germany	United Kingdom
Casualties and losses
Unknown	230 killed, 397 injured

The Swansea Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of Swansea by the German Luftwaffe from 19 to 21 February 1941. A total of 230 people were killed and 397 were injured. Swansea was selected by the Germans as a legitimate strategic target due to its importance as a port and docks and the oil refinery just beyond, and its destruction was key to Nazi German war efforts as part of their strategic bombing campaign aimed at crippling coal export and demoralizing civilians and emergency services.^[1]

The first air raid on Swansea commenced at 3.30 am on 27 June 1940. An initial marker flare was dropped by a Luftwaffe plane, and the following bombers dropped high explosives to the east of the city centre in the Danygraig residential area. The raid was relatively light, with no casualties reported to the ARP controllers. A number of unexploded bombs were discovered in the Kilvey Hill area. There were a further 15 raids during the year, the heaviest of which, on 1-2 September, resulted inn 33 deaths and 37 serious injuries.^[2]

In January 1941, after a series of small scale raids, on 17 January there was heavy bombardment resulting in 55 deaths and 38 serious injuries. German records show the raid involved 88 enemy aircraft dropping 178 high explosive bombs. There was substantial damage to residential and commercial areas of the town.^[3] The following month the most destructive period of bombing inflicted on Swansea during the war occurred over three nights on 19, 20, and 21 February 1941 in what became known as the Three Nights' Blitz starting at 7.30 pm on 19 February.^[4][5]

On the first night, the building housing both the Regimental HQ of 79th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery and the Gun Operations Room (GOR) at Swansea was destroyed by a bomb. Two officers and five other ranks were killed or died of wounds, but the guns continued firing under local control, and communications were maintained.^[6][7]

The second night of bombing saw the most concentrated loss of civilian life in the blitz on Swansea. At Teilo Crescent, in the Mayhill district of the town, 14 homes were destroyed and 24 residents as well as 6 firemen and civil defence volunteers perished.^[8] Altogether 38 people in the locality were killed during the raid. There was also extensive damage to the Mount Pleasant, Cwmbwrla and Manselton residential districts.^[9]

On the evening of 21 February, there was confusion between the Sector Operations Room at RAF Pembrey and the temporary Swansea GOR. This resulted in the guns ceasing fire between 20.20 and 21.10, and as no Night fighters arrived, the town centre was left unprotected. Although some raiders were shot down once the restriction was lifted, the centre of Swansea was devastated, and fires and delayed-action bombs destroyed communications.^[10]

By the time the "all clear" siren sounded after three days, 230 people were dead and 409 injured. Moreover, 7,000 people had lost their homes. The city centre suffered direct hits that started major conflagrations destroying many commercial premises, including the Ben Evans department store and the Victorian market.^[11]

Over the three nights of the blitz, a total of nearly 14 hours of enemy activity were recorded. 1,273 high explosive bombs and 56,000 Incendiary bombs were estimated to have been dropped. An area measuring approximately 41 acres was targeted, with 857 properties destroyed and 11,000 damaged.^[12] To raise morale following the blitz, there were visits to Swansea by the King and Queen in March 1941, and the prime minister, Winston Churchill, the following month.^[13]

Swansea was the target for 11 more raids during 1941 and 1942. In total there 40 bombing raids on Swansea during the war, the last of which occurred on 16 February 1943, causing 34 deaths and 111 injuries.^[14]

• Basil Collier, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom, London: HM Stationery Office, 1957.
• Lewis, Bernard (2024). Swansea and the Second World War. Talybont: Y Lolfa. ISBN 9781800994409.
• Brig N.W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55, London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 1-85753-099-3.
• Col J.D. Sainsbury, The Hertfordshire Yeomanry Regiments, Royal Artillery, Part 2: The Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment 1938–1945 and the Searchlight Battery 1937–1945, Welwyn: Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Trust/Hart Books, 2003, ISBN 0-948527-06-4.

• BBC
• Swansea Blitz feature on Youtube
• Warden remembers Swansea Blitz (BBC Wales)
• Scars of the blitz remain (BBC Wales)
• Pictures of the Swansea Blitz