UXO risk in Plymouth

Why was Plymouth targeted and bombed in WWII?

A city steeped in maritime history, Plymouth has long had an association with the Royal Navy and shipbuilding.

During WWII, its deep water Sound offered safe anchorage for large Navy vessels and the fortifications that dot the city’s coastline are testament to the area’s strategic importance. Once the city came into range of German bombers following the fall of France in 1940, the Luftwaffe could easily reach Plymouth from airfields in France and Belgium – and the first bombs fell on the city on 6 July 1940 with the heaviest period of bombing occurring in March and April 1941.

Initially the Luftwaffe heavily targeted HMNB Devonport due to its significant role in the war. Plymouth was not just important for industry and trade but also because it’s the largest naval base in Western Europe.

HMNB Devonport has been supporting the Royal Navy since 1691 and the vast site covered more than 650 acres, with 15 dry docks, 4 miles of waterfront, 25 tidal berths and 5 basins.

The Royal Naval Armament Depot at Bull Point was also targeted due to its large supplies of torpedoes and sea mines – before the Luftwaffe gradually moved away from solely targeting areas of military or industrial importance.

This unrestricted and relentless bombing strategy caused severe damage to large swathes of the dockyards, but also the city’s residential areas and suburbs.

Home Office Bombing Statistics for Plymouth

Details recorded by the official Home Office bombing statistics, indicates the quantity and type of bombs that fell on the County Borough of Plymouth during WWII (excluding incendiary bombs). A total of 2,820 recorded bombs fell in total, an average of 296.1 items per 1,000 acres.

The bomb maps below highlight that the bombing was not restricted to the city’s landmarks and areas of military or industrial importance, with reports of bombs being dropped far out of the city centre.

Local Bomb Maps for Plymouth also show a significant density of bombing in the city’s around the Royal Navy docks.

Major bombing raids in Plymouth

The people of Plymouth experienced their first air raid alert at 12.45am on 30 June 1940, and the first bombs fell in the city just before midday on 6 July 1940. These bombs claimed the first civilian casualties in the city, killing a 33 year old woman, a 58 year old man and a 13 year old boy.

Early attacks were daylight raids conducted against HMNB Devonport, shipping in the Sound, and the shore installations which lined the city’s periphery. Compared to cities further east, Plymouth’s defences were relatively weak. With air cover provided by aging interwar fighters from RNAS Roborough, and the city was vulnerable to enemy bombardment.

The most devastating of the raids on Plymouth occurred during the spring of 1941. On the night of 20th/21st March, the Luftwaffe dropped thousands of Incendiary Bombs In combination with tonnes of High Explosive Bombs, which caused extensive fires and devastation across the city.

During these seven nights alone, over 6,000 general purpose bombs and 205,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on the city. Between July 1940 and April 1944, Plymouth experienced 602 alerts and 59 bombing raids¹.

The city experienced mass devastation resulting in the deaths of 1,174 civilians. A further 3,209 were injured, and approximately 4,000 properties were completely destroyed with a further 18,000 damaged or rendered uninhabitable.

The worst of the raids on HMNB Devonport occurred on the nights of April 28th/29th 1941 – when six laboratories, a small arms ammunition store and many other buildings were damaged – and the main office building received a direct hit from a high explosive bomb².

One of the city’s greatest casualties was Charles Church, a famous landmark that was left gutted by incendiary bombing, and the churches shell was retained as a permanent memorial to the victims of the blitz. Other severe damage included sections of the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association, St. Andrew’s Church and the Guildhall.

In late April 1941, the Luftwaffe returned causing widespread damage once again. Tragedy struck on the evening of 22nd April when a communal air raid shelter at Portland Square – now part of the Plymouth University campus – took a direct hit and up to 76 people died in the incident³.