WEAR BOOKS - Sunderland in the Blitz

SUNDERLAND IN THE BLITZ
 
“Wearmouth railway bridge, Wearmouth road bridge, Pickersgill and sons, Doxford and sons, shipbuilders and marine engine builder specializing in diesel engines, Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Short Bros., with capacity for 50,000 tons yearly”. It all sounds like a guide to industrial Sunderland but is in fact part of a list of important targets noted on a Luftwaffe map of Sunderland. From June 1940 until May 1943 there were 251 alerts in Sunderland. Bombs dropped on the town included 384 high explosive, 39 parachute mines, 36 fire pots and 23 phosphorous bombs. There were also thousands of small incendiaries deposited over Wearside.
Damage to buildings was extensive and over 1,200 casualties were suffered, 267 people killed, 362 seriously injured and 639 injured to a lesser extent. Sunderland was among the most heavily bombed towns in the country and to give some kind of perspective, the number of fatal casualties in other towns in the region were: Tynemouth 226, South Shields 156, Newcastle 142 and Jarrow 38.
This small book shows in graphic images part of what the town of Sunderland and its people suffered during the bombing raids of World War 2.
 
REFERENCE BOOK - USE IN LIBRARY ONLY