Bath panorama from railway just west of Station geograph-2095074-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The term Bath Blitz refers to the air raids by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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

'' on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

city of

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The city was bombed in April 1942 as part of the so-called "

Baedeker raids The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, includ ...

", in which targets were chosen for their cultural and historical, rather than their strategic or military, value.

Background

Bath was subject to numerous air raid warnings during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, the German night bombing offensive against Britain's cities, as raiders flew overhead on their way to nearby

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

which was bombed severely throughout the period, and several bombs fell on Bath during 1940 and 1941. However, the city remained largely untouched until April 1942 and the start of the

Baedeker Blitz The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, inclu ...

, mounted in response to a step-change in the effectiveness of the RAF's bombing offensive in March 1942 which resulted in the destruction of the city of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

The Blitz

Over the weekend of 25–27 April 1942, Bath suffered three raids, from 80 ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft which took off from Nazi occupied northern France. As the city sirens wailed, few citizens took cover, even when the first pathfinder flares fell. The people of Bath still believed the attack was destined for nearby

. During the previous four months, Bristol had been hit almost every night, so the people of Bath did not expect the bombs to fall on them. The first raid struck just before 11 pm on the Saturday night and lasted until 1 am. The German aircraft then returned to France, refuelled, rearmed and returned at 4.35 am. Bath was still on fire from the first raid, making it easier for the German bombers to pick out their targets. The third raid, which only lasted two hours but caused extensive damage, commenced in the early hours of Monday morning. The bombers flew low to drop their high explosives and incendiaries, and then returned to rake the streets with machine-gun fire.

Effects

417 people were killed, another 1,000 injured. Over 19,000 buildings were affected, of which 1,100 were seriously damaged or destroyed, including 218 of architectural or historic interest. Houses in the Royal Crescent,

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

and

Paragon Paragon may refer to: Places *Paragon, Indiana, a town in the United States * Paragon, Nebraska, former community in the United States *The Paragon, Bath, a Georgian street in the Walcot area of Bath * The Paragon, Blackheath, London, built by Mi ...

were destroyed and the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th century Britain, 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done ...

were burnt out. A

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

bomb landed on the south side of Queen Square, resulting in houses on the south side being damaged. The Francis Hotel lost of its hotel frontage, and most of the buildings on Queen Square suffered some level of

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

damage. Casualties on the Square were low, considering the devastation, with the majority of hotel guests and staff having taken shelter in the hotel's basement. The majority of Bath's churches were greatly damaged, including St James Church on Stall Street and St Andrew's Church, both of which had to be demolished; the St James site is now a retail building and the St Andrew's site is now a park. Many buildings have subsequently been restored, or otherwise have been replaced by different buildings or a new land use (such as a park), although there are still some signs of the bombing.

Legacy

After the raid, an air-raid shelter was provided for Queen Square occupants in the then private central garden. In 1948, the residents gave the garden to the people of Bath with the intention it would become a memorial to the victims of the enemy attacks. Today the square plays host to a variety of community activities, including the

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Festival and the annual Bath Boules Tournament. Willi Schludecker, 87, who flew more than 120 sorties for the ''Luftwaffe'', including the Bath Blitz, travelled to the UK as part of Bath's annual remembrance service on Friday 25 April 2008. Willi Schludecker died in a hospital in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

on 17 June 2010, at the age of 90. Among the firefighters assigned to the scene in Bath was

Harry Patch Henry John Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his later years "the Last Fighting Tommy", was an English supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the last surviving trench combat soldier of the First World War from ...

, who in the 2000s became the last surviving frontline British Army veteran from the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 2016, a live bomb was discovered by workmen under the playground of the former

Royal High School, Bath Royal High School Bath is an independent day and boarding school for girls and in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, catering for up to 650 pupils. The school is on Lansdown Road, just outside Bath city centre, and has boarding facilities fo ...

site. The bomb, which had remained undiscovered for over 70 years, was made safe by a

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milita ...

team before being removed to the

Torr Works Torr Works quarry, is a limestone quarry at East Cranmore, near Shepton Mallet on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. The quarry was formerly known as Merehead, a name which has been retained for its rail depot on the opposite side of the A3 ...

quarry and blown up.

References

* Grayling, A. C. (2006); ''Among the dead cities''; Bloomsbury (2006); . Pages Pages 50–52 * Harris, Arthur (1947); ''Bomber Offensive'', Pen & Swords, (Paperback 2005), ; page 105

External links

Bath Blitz website

BBC News: Blitzed by guidebook
Retrieved February 2012
BBC: People's War
Retrieved February 2012 {{Subject bar , portal1=World War II , portal2=United Kingdom , portal3=Aviation , portal4=Germany

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

World War II strategic bombing conducted by Germany World War II aerial operations and battles of the Western European Theatre 1942 in England 20th century in Somerset The Blitz April 1942 events