The Raids
It was a moonlit night with perfect visibility on the 13th March, 1941 when the first siren sounded just after 9.00 p.m. By 9.30 p.m. the first wave of German bombers had arrived. Their strategy was to drop incendiary bombs to start marker fires; 1,650 incendiaries and 272 tons of high explosive bombs dropped that first night.
Gas, electricity and water supplies were put out of action. The huge 15-inch water main in Kilbowie Road was an early victim. Not surprisingly, by the next evening several fires were still burning when the Luftwaffe returned for another 7.5 hours of bombardment.
Some of the destruction can be seen in the photograph beneath, and in the pages following.
