UXO risk in Newcastle

Why was Newcastle targeted and bombed in WWII

Based on the northern bank of the River Tyne, Newcastle’s history is that of a large shipbuilding Dockyard¹ and supplier of coal² and other important materials. By the start of WWII, the heavy industry of Newcastle was centred on the production of ships and armaments.

The importance of the dockyards and industry was directly observed by Nazi Germany, with Adolf Hitler specifically mentioning the town in his ‘Directive No 9’. Hitler identified Newcastle’s importance in the supply of coal as a major target for early Luftwaffe raids.

Luftwaffe mapping of the city indicates a particular focus on targets along the River Tyne, with areas such as the Spillers Factory and ship building yards both highlighted in the images below. Additionally, local railway stations were also targeted, likely due to the major rail connections between Newcastle and Scotland and the importance of trains to transport coal across the country.

After a shift in Luftwaffe bombing strategy, they stopped targeting areas only associated with military or industrial imports and started what is now known as the ‘Blitz’ – the targeting of civilian areas of city in order to subvert morale.

This led to the continual targeting of both the dockyards and city’s residential areas. The River Tyne allowed Luftwaffe bombers to easily navigate into the city and unleash their payload before returning to the coast. Luftwaffe aircraft had only a short flight from occupied countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands.

This relentless bombing strategy caused extensive damage to not only the dockyards, but also the city’s residential areas.

Home Office Bombing Statistics for Newcastle

Despite the prevalence of Newcastle as a Luftwaffe target from the outbreak of the war, the County Borough of Newcastle overall was only subjected to a Low density of bombing, with 152 High Explosive bombs and a single parachute mine dropped across the borough – a density of 13.8 items recorded per 1,000 acres.

This low density may be explained due to the lack of a single central area of industry within Newcastle, due to its many ports, factories and areas of industry spread across the Tyne – in areas such as South Shields, Tynemouth and the Port of Tyne itself.

Major Bombing Raids in Newcastle

The so-called ‘Newcastle Blitz’ is stated to have started in July 1940 and ended in December 1941³. During this period multiple raids where carried-out on the city and its surroundings.

The first major raid on Newcastle took place on 2nd July 1940 and was aimed at the High Level Bridge. 13 people died and 123 were injured. The next major raid was on 25th August 1941, with 47 killed and many residential houses were destroyed.

Of particular note was the raid on 1st September 1941, during which the Manors Goods Station on Kings Manor road was hit, with the resulting fire blazing for a week. It resulted in 50 killed, 211 injured and many houses in the surrounding area were completely destroyed.

The final raid of note was on 29th December 1941, with 9 people killed⁴. This was one of the last raids of the Newcastle Blitz, as during 1942 much of the Luftwaffe air force were moved from France and the nearby countries of western Europe to take part in the German offensive against Russia.