Bomb maps of Manchester 1940 – 1941. This page doesn’t seem to have been maintained since being put up in 2012. You might need to click on the image of a map a few times to get it to open. It still works – just – as of March 2024.
The red circles show where incendiary bombs fell. The blue circles show where a high explosive bomb came down. Green circles indicate a land mine. A building coloured solid red means it was demolished and those with hatched red shading were damaged.
Some videos
Manchester Blitz. Film made by the co-op which shows many places photographed above. At 10.18 there is a shot of a roof spotter.
Ian -I just discovered your blog and website and it is fascinating. I have been researching the V-1 for years and have never seen anything quite like it. I will have a million questions for you but I will start with one. When you are investigating the V-1 crash sites do you find that certain bits survive the explosion and or the impact? thank you
There is one site where I used a metal detector checking the alleged V1 crater for any signals. There were none, which made me think I had the wrong spot but it could be that all fragments had already been removed. Or I wasn’t as thorough as I should have been.
However as recently as 1983 there was a big bit of tailpipe from a V1 at this site (link below). It has a photo of the tailpipe after it was removed to a museum in Manchester.
I saw the well-reported “Beighton Doodlebug” on Christmas Eve morning 1944 coming low and “stuttering” over the houses in Swallownest I was delivering papers to – it crashed about 2 miles away.
It was flying inappropriately in an easterly direction – presumably having been “tipped” by a fighter.
I can find no report from the evening of 23/12 when a very resolute V1 heading westward passed over at a high level closely attended by British fighter plane. All reports I have encountered claim 24/12 as the date of the attack
I seem to have information{I don’t know how!!) about 2 V1’s landing in the Sheffield area. One was in the village of Clowne, Derbyshire and the second in Grenoside Woods, Sheffield. As far as I know the crater in the woods was never filled in and,is still there. I guess it will be well overgrown by now and difficult to find
I am also lead to believe that these two weapons had gone off course and were destined for Liverpool Docks
The Grenoside crater I suspect is not a V1 crash site – none of my family from the area ever mentioned it, and as my Dad was a Home Guard radio operator at Birdwell, he would certainly have known had it been one. I was a pain always asking my parents about the war, so I think it would have come up in conversation! However, I have asked on this site for any further information if anyone has any (I’ve called it ‘High Green area’).
I too was under the impression that a Doodlebug had crashed in Greno woods and that the crater had never been filled in.
There was another incident I believe at Clowne when a suspected doodlebug crashed in a field adjacent to a bacon factory. No damage reported.
Does anyone have any information about a V1 that flew over Mirfield towards ICI and LB Holliday who made explosives and other war chemicals over the hill in east Huddersfield?
My mother claimed she woke and saw it and it crashed somewhere in the Hopton -Kirkheaton area barely a mile from it’s possible target?
I didn’t know about them being released from bombers over the North Sea and so the flight of say 100 miles and accuracy of about a mile was amazing feat!
Hello my brother was in squadron 158. He died when the Halifax Bomber, wizard of aus was shot down while going over gladbech. This was on 24th March 1945 4 of the crew were killed an 3 were taken prisoner. I would like to find out where the plane was discovered as I know my brother was missing for quite a while. Hope you can help. Ruth
I am afraid I cannot find anything specifically about the location of the crash site.
W R Chorley only says it was shot down over the target area. However, he says that all the crew baled out so it is likely your brother was found some distance from the crashed aircraft? I looked in a book of records of Luftwaffe pilots claims, but there was nothing about Halifax MZ759.
You will probably have seen the photo online of it in flames.
Sorry I can’t help. You could try posting your question on the RAF Commands Forum (General category), there are far more people on there who may be able to help? RAF Commands
Best wishes,
Ian
Can anyone give me some information on the bombing of Cranberry Hotel / street , Glodwick Oldham around winter time 1944 ,,, I lived around the corner at 117 Glodwick road and while I wasn’t born till 1947 people said how the windows were blown out for miles around as well as the houses and Cranberry Pub demolished,,, would like to see pictures please
I am just amazed here that there is so little information here about the Hull Blitz of 1940 to 41. My Dad came home from the Front and said he felt safer there. It was often reported as “somewhere in the north east” but I well remember the bomb sites as a child. I was told that despite dummy tanks positioned nearby to distract from the dock area, it was easy to find them because of the bend in the River Humber .
Ian -I just discovered your blog and website and it is fascinating. I have been researching the V-1 for years and have never seen anything quite like it. I will have a million questions for you but I will start with one. When you are investigating the V-1 crash sites do you find that certain bits survive the explosion and or the impact? thank you
Hi Doug, thank you for your comment, I’m pleased you like these pages. This page (link below) shows a V1 fragment found, photographed and left at the scene in 2011 and also some fin fragments from a mine which came down in the same area. But these are uncommon.
https://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-raids-bomb-sites/v1-flying-bomb-crater-howden-moor-derbyshire/
There is one site where I used a metal detector checking the alleged V1 crater for any signals. There were none, which made me think I had the wrong spot but it could be that all fragments had already been removed. Or I wasn’t as thorough as I should have been.
However as recently as 1983 there was a big bit of tailpipe from a V1 at this site (link below). It has a photo of the tailpipe after it was removed to a museum in Manchester.
https://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-raids-bomb-sites/dsc_0010y/
I saw the well-reported “Beighton Doodlebug” on Christmas Eve morning 1944 coming low and “stuttering” over the houses in Swallownest I was delivering papers to – it crashed about 2 miles away.
It was flying inappropriately in an easterly direction – presumably having been “tipped” by a fighter.
I can find no report from the evening of 23/12 when a very resolute V1 heading westward passed over at a high level closely attended by British fighter plane. All reports I have encountered claim 24/12 as the date of the attack
I seem to have information{I don’t know how!!) about 2 V1’s landing in the Sheffield area. One was in the village of Clowne, Derbyshire and the second in Grenoside Woods, Sheffield. As far as I know the crater in the woods was never filled in and,is still there. I guess it will be well overgrown by now and difficult to find
I am also lead to believe that these two weapons had gone off course and were destined for Liverpool Docks
The Grenoside crater I suspect is not a V1 crash site – none of my family from the area ever mentioned it, and as my Dad was a Home Guard radio operator at Birdwell, he would certainly have known had it been one. I was a pain always asking my parents about the war, so I think it would have come up in conversation! However, I have asked on this site for any further information if anyone has any (I’ve called it ‘High Green area’).
Hi Keren, there was a V1 came down at Beighton, that was the nearest to Sheffield
Re V1 crash in Grenoside Woods
I too was under the impression that a Doodlebug had crashed in Greno woods and that the crater had never been filled in.
There was another incident I believe at Clowne when a suspected doodlebug crashed in a field adjacent to a bacon factory. No damage reported.
Does anyone have any information about a V1 that flew over Mirfield towards ICI and LB Holliday who made explosives and other war chemicals over the hill in east Huddersfield?
My mother claimed she woke and saw it and it crashed somewhere in the Hopton -Kirkheaton area barely a mile from it’s possible target?
I didn’t know about them being released from bombers over the North Sea and so the flight of say 100 miles and accuracy of about a mile was amazing feat!
Hello my brother was in squadron 158. He died when the Halifax Bomber, wizard of aus was shot down while going over gladbech. This was on 24th March 1945 4 of the crew were killed an 3 were taken prisoner. I would like to find out where the plane was discovered as I know my brother was missing for quite a while. Hope you can help. Ruth
Hello Ruth,
I am afraid I cannot find anything specifically about the location of the crash site.
W R Chorley only says it was shot down over the target area. However, he says that all the crew baled out so it is likely your brother was found some distance from the crashed aircraft? I looked in a book of records of Luftwaffe pilots claims, but there was nothing about Halifax MZ759.
You will probably have seen the photo online of it in flames.
Sorry I can’t help. You could try posting your question on the RAF Commands Forum (General category), there are far more people on there who may be able to help?
RAF Commands
Best wishes,
Ian
Can anyone give me some information on the bombing of Cranberry Hotel / street , Glodwick Oldham around winter time 1944 ,,, I lived around the corner at 117 Glodwick road and while I wasn’t born till 1947 people said how the windows were blown out for miles around as well as the houses and Cranberry Pub demolished,,, would like to see pictures please
Hi Edward,
There are a few comments about the bomb on Cranberry Street on this page, though no photos alas.
The air raid was on the night of 12 October 1941, with bombs falling between Chadderton and Glodwick, killing 27 people.
I found this clipping from a pdf
This page has more details about the air raid.
Ian
I am just amazed here that there is so little information here about the Hull Blitz of 1940 to 41. My Dad came home from the Front and said he felt safer there. It was often reported as “somewhere in the north east” but I well remember the bomb sites as a child. I was told that despite dummy tanks positioned nearby to distract from the dock area, it was easy to find them because of the bend in the River Humber .