Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Hi Everyone,

I have found myself researching an air raid which occurred in the small town of Leek, Staffordshire on the night of March 11th 1941. It seems unlikely that Leek was targetted but rather presented itself as an unfortunate 'target of opportunity' for bombers heading to, or having missed, Liverpool, Manchester, or perhaps Stoke on Trent. Could anyone help me, or guide me towards where I might try to find out which Luftwaffe units might have been over that part of the NW Midlands on the date in question??? Do such records exist? Thanks.J

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

The Luftwaffe's daily situation report is online here (in German): https://wwii.germandocsinrussia.org/...de/grid/zoom/1
It should tell you what they thought they were attacking.

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

III./KG 27 reported attacking Stoke on Trent but there were 135 aircraft attacking Birmingham that night and I can see no mention of Leek

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Gosh guys thanks for such quick responses, that's a pleasant surprise that some info is out there!! If its not taking the pee, there are SO many things I would like to ask!!?? Chris, are III./KG27 reported attacking Stoke on the 11th March, as Birmingham seems a little too far south for them to have strayed so far yeah?? Second, were there any raids planned that night for more northerly targets like Manc or Liverpool do you know, cos if not I can concentrate on the Stoke attackers as likely culprits!!?? Is the info you have given me taken from the archive that Nick suggested above, or is there any easier English Language sources?? John

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Stoke is mentioned as an alternative target and the relevant section (which is as much as I'm translating!) reads:

2240 and 2303 hours: Stoke-on-Trent by two bombers with 1 SC 100 and 24 AB. 1 powerful explosion as well as two major fires and explosions in the South West of the town. Fires were seen in factory buildings.

Times are GMT+1 (the same as British Summer Time which was in force then).

SC 1000 is a 1000 kg high-explosive bomb.

AB was a container (»Abwurfbehälter«) which split after being dropped to release numerous smaller HE, anti-personnel or incendiary bombs (which could be of sizes between and 1 and 10 kg). These containers came in various sizes but this report doesn't specify which. If the two bombers had 12 each, this suggests they carried the 50 kg version on this raid.[/list]

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Birmingham was main effort that night with Southampton. Minor attacks on Portsmouth, Plymouth, Bristol, Worthing and Stoke. Sources are varied but in German

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

That's really brilliant guys, thanks!

Nick, you quote:

"2240 and 2303 hours: Stoke-on-Trent by two bombers with 1 SC 100 and 24 AB. 1 powerful explosion as well as two major fires and explosions in the South West of the town. Fires were seen in factory buildings."

My research at Leek so far suggests one payload of incendiaries being dropped from one plane (non of which set fire to buildings), and four HE bombs dropped from another plane with a spread of only around 50metres (so I'm guessing dropped from low altitude?), non of which detonated on impact, and I'm assuming were diffused later. This happened 10-10.30pm March 11th.

This does not sound like the payload of the two Stoke planes yes? Would you say then that I might be looking at stray Birmingham raiders? Was 4 HE bombs a typical payload at that time??

John

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

No it doesn't sound like the reported bombs at Stoke.

4 x SC 250 HE bombs (250 kg each) was a common load for a Ju 88's wing racks.

Were they strays? Quite likely but we don't have any definite evidence (nor does another of these reports mention the September 1940 bombing of Exeter that wrecked the house my Dad and Grandparents were living in). Stray planes used to unload bombs all over the place.

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Thanks Nick, yes, no one in the town has ever considered that they were anything but strays tbh. There was some thought (or at least I considered) that they may have jettisoned their loads in response to night fighter pursuit but my trawl of combat reports in the National Archive shows no contacts for any of the likely fighter squadrons on that night!!

I realise that the best I can hope for is some "probable" or "most likely" type explanation, rather than undesputed fact. I have quite a strong human Leek based narrative around the event from Newspaper and oral history. The only casualty was one 28 year old man who was killed as he ran to fetch his 2 yr old daughter from upstairs. One of the HE bombs physically hit him as it came through the house and embedded itself in the cellar! It would be awesome to have some technical military detail to add in!

Would you say then that I should really be looking for a unit that was using the JU88 at that time (which would discount III./KG27 as they appear to have used the HE111 exclusively!?)?? Is it likely that the JU88s could also carry the incendiary packs??

John

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

John: Apart from the very thin chance of finding a logbook from the crew responsible, all surviving German records state what both Nick and myself have already said. All the known Ju 88 units attacking Birmingham that night (KGr 806, II./KG 76, KG 77) made no mention of dropping bombs anywhere else than Birmingham

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

May I suggest it was an accident, attack by own bomber? I am aware of an accident on another date, when a crew forgot to open bomb bay door on a practice run, and then dropped all load during the flight back to base, fortunately not in a populated area.

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Thanks Chris!

But if I'm looking for strays would you say the Brum raid is most likely though, just due to the number of aircraft? Would aircrew always admit having not found a target? Would I be correct in thinking that if they were over Leek at around 10.15pm that they would have been some of the lead aircraft? Do you know if the JU88 carried incendiary payloads? thanks.John

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Getting lost was practically standard procedure for night bombers and yes, crews did report their inability to find the main target and that they had bombed something else instead. The Ju 88 could carry HE and incendiary bombs in whatever combination was considered right for the mission.

Whether these were lead crews would depend on what time bombing commenced in Birmingham.

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

That's interesting thanks Nick!

Some of my research today may have changed everything though. It appears that Manchester took a heavier beating than Birmingham on the 12th March 41!! Is Manchester mentioned for that date in any of the German records that you have access to (or do they only mention Brum and Stoke?), if so couuld you give me a steer as to which units might have hit Manchester? This is a much more likely source of strays than Birm as Manchester bound bombers would pass virtually straight over Leek!

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

You have access to the same records I do! That report I linked to earlier in the thread is open to anyone with no accounts or passwords or anything required.

If you want to know where bombs fell that night then file HO 203/6 at the National Archives in Kew should be useful. It contains the daily Home Security reports for the period you’re interested in. I’ve only looked at the 1944 ones but they seem to document every last incident.

Re: Help with research? Can anyone assist?
 

Yes, thanks Nick, I discovered today that the Leek incident is indeed recorded in those documents (inaccurately stating no casualties sadly), but as they are not digitised I'll have to spend a day at Kew sometime soon. This is also how I discovered Manchester was heavily attacked night of 11th! Cheers. J