Home Front - City Civil Defence

Aberdeen suffered thirty-six air raids during the Second World War, seven of which hit the city without warning. There were over three hundred false alarms raised in the early years of the War, as lookouts stationed in Aberdeen noticed enemy aircraft looking for targets in the shipping lanes of the North Sea and assumed they represented a threat to the city. 

The attacks on Aberdeen varied from massive bombing campaigns to “tip and run” sorties as light bombers, failing to attack ships in convoy, dropped their bombs on settlements before returning to their airfields.

The records that were kept provide a detailed account of the attacks that occurred in the City and the following extracts show some of the more notable events in the City during the War period.”

Alert Register

Aberdeen kept its own records of war related incidents.

This image from its Alert Register shows the first three noted attacks on the City (denoted with the red circles besidethem): the bombing of Tullos Home Farm, the firebombing of Torry, and the daylight surprise attack on Hall Russell Shipyards

The City’s Incident Register notes instances of bombs falling, damage caused, and type of bomb used.

 

The page displayed here shows that Lookout Post 2 on Victoria Road School, which was  staffed at the time of this attack, was also bombed.

These entries record one of the more famous incidents to occur in Aberdeen during the War – a Heinkel light bomber was shot down by Spitfires and crashed, burning, into the Ice Rink on Anderson Drive. The incident was widely reported despite wartime restrictions on details.

War Damage Register

In order to help in the process of rebuilding, each area kept a note of  repairable damage caused by enemy attacks in its War Damage Register.

This image shows the only reference noting claimable damage incurred by the crashed bomber – one damaged electric light on South Anderson Drive.

21st April 1943 Raid

The night of 21^st April, 1943, saw the heaviest bombing to hit Aberdeen during the War. Over 130 incidents were reported, and this page is one sample of many. Note that among the weapons used on Aberdeen are phosphorous bombs and “SBC” – Small Bomb Containers, a sort of cluster bomb, as well as 500kg explosive bombs.

SS Archangel

This report from the Mortuary at Berryden deals with an attack on shipping in the North Sea: The Archangel, a passenger transport from the Great War, was attacked whilst shipping troops south from Kirkwall. This incident is also mentioned in the records of Peterhead RNLI; the vessel eventually beached at Black Dog – as the record states, 41 bodies were brought to the Mortuary. 

Shelters

Across the City shelters were constructed using both public and private money. These all had to be registered and inspected to make sure that they were fit for purpose.

This image shows the survey of shelters in public locations at the Castlegate end of Union Street.

[Originally part of our Home Front Online Exhibition, 2010]