Scotland suffered more than 500 German air raids during the course of the Second World War. These ranged from single aircraft attacks to planned bombings conducted by 240 planes intending to strike terror and fear into the civilian population. More than 2500 Scots died as a result and 8000 were injured.
The Greenock Blitz
On the 6th and 7th of May 1941 Greenock was bombed by the Luftwaffe as they targeted the many ships and shipyards around the town.
The civilians took the brunt of the attack during the blitz which began around midnight on May 6th, and 271 people were killed and more than 10,200 injured during the intense bombing. 5,000 homes were completely destroyed and a further 25,000 were damaged. Residents fled to the tunnels at the east end of the town and this managed to reduce the casualties and dead in the second night.
On the second night an Air Ministry decoy was lit which consisted of mounds of combustible materials lit over a wide part of moorland to appear as a burning urban area from the sky. The decoy was a success and dozens of bomb craters were found in an inspection once the raid had ended. In Greenock a distillery had been blazing from the first night which acted as a beacon for the bombers to bomb. The final wave came at 2am when parachute land mines were dropped and by 3.30am the entire town appeared to be alight. Damage to the shipyards was minimal but the factories, distillery and sugar refineries were damaged.
Three local firemen were awarded the George Medal after entering a burning building to control and stop a fire which would have destroyed a mass amount of materials contributing to the war effort.
During the Greenock Blitz British night fighters from nearby Ayr engaged with the bombers and this meant bombs were dropped all over south-west Scotland, however only three Nazi planes were shot down in the attack.
The Clydebank and Greenock blitzes saw 1000 tonnes of explosives dropped over Scotland, but these were not the only attacks, Edinburgh, Montrose and Fraserburgh were all bombed more than a dozen times each during the war.
The McAuslands and the Greenock Blitz
When the air raid sirens sounded, William McAusland and his mother descended to the bomb shelter in the basement of the tenement. William McAusland then returned to the roof to check on the look-out there before going back to the shelter. The building was then hit and collapsed with the McAuslands and their neighbours having to be dug out by rescuers. The look-out was one of the many killed in the blitz. The McAuslands lost all their possessions and lived in a pre-fab until they could be rehoused.
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