The worst period of bombing was the ‘May Blitz’ of 1941, in which 1741 people were killed and 1154 people were seriously injured throughout Merseyside between 1 – 7 May. In early 1941 Germany decided to regroup the Luftwaffe (German air force) in preparation for a large-scale attack on the Soviet Union later that summer. The ‘May Blitz’ was therefore planned as a final ‘parting shot’ to Merseyside. The Luftwaffe gradually increased the force and frequency of its attacks on the British ports throughout March and April 1941, building up to the heaviest attacks in the first week of May. The German aeroplanes dropped 2315 high explosive bombs, 119 land mines and countless smaller incendiary devices (fire bombs).
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 Collapsed house at 29 Clarence Street, Liverpool |
The heaviest night of bombing was 3 May, with the biggest single incident of the night being the explosion of the cargo ship Malakand in Huskisson Dock No. 2, carrying one thousand tons of bombs and shells. A partly inflated barrage balloon (an inflatable device used to disrupt air raid attacks) came loose from its moorings and became tangled up in the Malakand’s rigging. The balloon burst into flames and landed on the ship’s deck. Although this fire was put out, flames from dock sheds that had been bombed soon spread to the Malakand, and the fire services struggled to fight the fire. A few hours after the ‘all clear’ signal had gone up around Merseyside, signalling the end of the air raids for that night, the Malakand exploded, destroying the entire Huskisson No. 2 dock and killing four people. It took seventy-four hours for the fire to burn out. |
