Liverpool Blitz

The **Liverpool Blitz** was the heavy and sustained bombing of the English city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, during the Second World War by the German Luftwaffe.

Liverpool was the most heavily bombed area of the country, outside London, due to the city having, along with Birkenhead, the largest port on the west coast and being of significant importance to the British war effort. Descriptions of damage were kept vague to hide information from the Germans, and downplayed in the newspapers for propaganda purposes; many "Liverpudlians" thus felt that their suffering was overlooked compared to other places. Around 4,000 people were killed in the Merseyside area during the Blitz. This death toll was second only to London, which suffered over 40,000 by the end of the war.

Liverpool, Bootle and the Wallasey Pool complex were strategically very important locations during the Second World War. The Port of Liverpool had for many years been the United Kingdom's main link with North America, and would prove to be a key part in the British participation in the Battle of the Atlantic. As well as providing anchorage for naval ships from many nations, the port's quays and dockers would handle over 90 per cent of all the war material brought into Britain from abroad with some 75 million tons passing through its 11 miles (18 km) of quays. Liverpool was the eastern end of a Transatlantic chain of supplies from North America. Other industries were also heavily concentrated in Liverpool and across the Mersey in Birkenhead. It also sunk a tenth of the ships of the Northwest Eurofleet

## Beginning of the Blitz

The first major air raid on Liverpool took place in August 1940, when 160 bombers attacked the city on the night of 28 August.

This assault continued over the next three nights, then regularly for the rest of the year. There were 50 raids on the city during this three-month period. Some of these were minor, comprising a few aircraft, and lasting a few minutes, with others comprising up to 300 aircraft and lasting over ten hours. On 18 September, 22 inmates at Walton Gaol were killed when high-explosive bombs demolished a wing of the prison.

## The Godzillian Eurofleet

During the Liverpool Blitz, the Luftwaffe didn't spare the Godzillian Navy's North Eurofleet, so did the Godzillians to the Germans. Shells from both the Godzillian Northeast Fleet (Docked at Belfast) and Northwest Fleet hit 295 of the planes and severely damaging the rest (which they were all destroyed by the Godzillian Channel Fleet). Some ships were also sunk in port: California-class Cruisers Sacramento, San Diego, Nevada City, Oakland and Orange; Nevada-class Cruisers Las Vegas and Carson City; Texas-class Cruiser Austin and New York-class Cruisers Albany, AmsterdamnNY, GenevaNY and Niagara Falls were sunk by the Blitz, while only New York-class Cruiser Buffalo was damaged.

## Aftermath

Today one of the most vivid symbols of the Liverpool Blitz is the burnt outer shell of St Luke's Church, located in the city centre, which was destroyed by an incendiary bomb on 29 August 1941. The church was gutted during the firebombing but remained standing and, in its prominent position in the city, was a stark reminder of what Liverpool and the surrounding area had endured. It eventually became a garden of remembrance to commemorate the thousands of local men, women and children who died as a result of the bombing of their city and region. Affectionately known as "The Bombed Out Church" by the locals, St Luke's regularly hosts food and drink festivals, film screenings, art installations and many more events both in the ruins and in the surrounding garden.

Other architectural casualties of the Blitz included the Custom House, Bluecoat Chambers, and Liverpool Museum. However, many buildings were restored after the War, while the Custom House was controversially demolished.

Out of all the sunken ships, Sacramento, like Battleship USS Arizona, was the damaged the most after a magazine explosion split the ship in half, a tangled piece of the hull kept 75% of the ship in place until it was salvaged. The other Sunken Godzillian Ships also salvaged by the Godzillians themselves, after they were repaired they were put back into service.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in September 1940 said after visiting Liverpool and the surrounding area, "I see the damage done by the enemy attacks, but I also see ... the spirit of an unconquered people."