Bristol Blitz - Following Raids

Following Raids

On 3 – 4 January 1941 Bristol had its longest raid lasting 12 hours; during this raid the Luftwaffe dropped their biggest bomb on the city. It was nicknamed "Satan", and weighed 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb), measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) long (without the tail), and 26 inches (66 cm) in diameter; it did not explode. The bomb was recovered in April 1943. The bomb disposal crew had to dig down 29 feet (8.8 m) to get to it. “Satan” was paraded through the streets of London during the VE Day Victory Parade at the end of the war.

The infamous Good Friday air raids caused further damage to the centre of the city, Knowle, Hotwells, Cotham and Filton, and caused the permanent closure of the Bristol Tramways. Winston Churchill visited the ruins on 12 April 1941. The last air raid of the Blitz on Bristol was on 25 April 1941, when Brislington, Bedminster and Knowle were bombed. It is speculated that these suburbs were not the targets themselves but that bombs intended for Filton's manufacturing areas were mistakenly dropped on other areas.

One of the common types of bomb dropped on the city was a canister containing a large number of incendiaries (locally known as Goering's Bread Basket – from the Molotov bread basket device); these caused numerous fires and were designed to cause panic amongst the citizens, and stretch the fire services to their limits.

The last raid on Bristol was on 15 May 1944.

Bristol was in danger of being hit by V-1 flying bombs, and by the A4/V2 rockets, whose launching platforms already had been built on the Cotentin peninsula in 1944; D-Day on 6 June 1944 put an end to this danger. The launching platforms on Cotentin were quickly overrun by the allies, so Bristol was safe from the V1 and V2.