Birmingham Blitz The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German Luftwaffe of the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom . Beginning on 9 August 1940 and ending on 23 April 1943 . Situated in the Midlands , Birmingham , England ' s second city after London , is an important industrial and manufacturing location . In total around 1 , 852 tons of bombs were dropped on Birmingham making it the third most heavily bombed city in the United Kingdom in World War II , behind only London , and Liverpool . Damage . Overall , there were eight major air raids on Birmingham ( raids which dropped at least 100 tons of bombs ) and many smaller ones . Official figures state that 5 , 129 high explosive bombs and 48 parachute mine s landed on the city , although there are no figures for the number of incendiary bombs that were dropped . Of the high explosive bombs , around one fifth failed to detonate and one third of the parachute mines were left suspended after the parachute cords became caught in various obstacles such as trees . In total , 2 , 241 people were killed , and 3 , 010 seriously injured . A further 3 , 682 sustained lesser injuries . 12 , 391 houses , 302 factories and 239 other buildings were destroyed , with many more damaged . At the out break of war Birmingham , along with industrial centres , were considered to at risk from paratroop assault ; consequently citizens were asked to be on guard for parachutes . However , because people of that era were not used to seeing many planes and had certainly never seen a parachute , mistakes were made . In particular , in Small Heath the German bombers were after the B . S . A . site and dropped incendiaries ; these incendiaries were attached to parachutes and came down by the score . This obviously caused mass panic , not for the bombs but because everyone thought they were paratroopers . The first fatality of the bombing in Birmingham was a soldier in Erdington , home on leave from his unit . That night , eight bombs were dropped by a single German plane . It is believed the intended target was Fort Dunlop or Bromford Tubular Rolling Mills . On 25 August 1940 , the roof and interior of the old Market Hall in the Bull Ring was destroyed by an incendiary attack . Completed in 1835 , it remained as an empty shell after the war and was used for small exhibitions and open markets . It was eventually bulldozed in the 1960s with the Bull Ring redevelopment . Just as it had in the First World War , the Birmingham Small Arms Company turned itself over to the war effort , becoming a key supplier for the British military and therefore , an important strategic target for the Luftwaffe . The factory was bombed several times , the worst air raid being on 19 November 1940 did the most damage , causing loss of production and trapping hundreds of workers . Two BSA night - shift electricians , Alf Stevens and Alf Goodwin , helped rescue their fellow workers . Alf Stevens was awarded the George Medal for his selfless acts of bravery in the rescue and Alf Goodwin was awarded the British Empire Medal . Workers involved in the works Civil Defence were brought in to help search for and clear bodies to get the plant back into production . The net effect of the November raids was to destroy machine shops in the four - storey 1915 building , the original 1863 gunsmiths ' building and nearby buildings ; 53 employees were killed , 89 were injured , 30 of them seriously and rifle production was halted for three months . The raid turned out to be the most devastating attack on Birmingham in the course of the war . It was six weeks before the last of the bodies was recovered from the site . The night of 11 December 1940 was the longest raid of the Blitz when 200 German Bombers pounded Birmingham for 13 hours . During this raid all but the fine tower and classical west portico of St Thomas ' Church on Bath Row was destroyed . The ruins of which now form part of St . Thomas ' Peace Garden , a public park designated as a monument to peace and a memorial to all those killed in armed conflict . The aerodrome factory , in Castle Bromwich , which produced 59 % of all Spitfires which flew in the war , was also damaged by bombing and it was thought production would have to stop for repairs to made , both to the building and also equipment . However , word had spread and off duty workers started to drift in to repair machinery and make temporary repairs to the fabric of the building making it safe and water - proof . This allowed those actually at work to carry on , albeit at reduced speed . At the end of their shift they then took over the repair work of the factory ; those they replaced then " clocked " on for their shift . Some went for two days without sleep , purely for the war effort . The nights of 9 and 10 April 1941 saw over 650 bombs and thousands of incendiaries fall on the city centre destroying the Prince of Wales Theatre , and much of New Street and High Street . The neighbouring Black Country area also suffered from air raids from the Luftwaffe aiming for targets there and in Birmingham . These included a string of air raids on Wolverhampton in 1941 and 1942 . West Bromwich suffered its heaviest raid on 19 November 1940 with more than 50 fatalities , mainly around the town centre . . Dudley was bombed on the same night as West Bromwich , with the 10 fatalities all occurring in the Oakham area of the town . Important industrial targets . Other targets included : Dunlop , Chance Brothers , Lucas , Metro - Cammell , Morris Commercial , British Timken , Hudson ' s Whistles and the Monitor Radio Company . Memorial . On 8 October 2005 a memorial sculpture named ' The Tree of Life ' sculpted by Lorenzo Quinn was unveiled adjacent to St Martin ’ s Church . Aftermath . The massive bomb damage on civilian housing in Birmingham led to the development of many large housing estates across the city for some 20 years after the Second World War . These neighbourhoods included Castle Vale and Chelmsley Wood . Some of the bomb - damaged inner city areas such as Ladywood and Highgate were redeveloped with modern housing after the war .