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Thursday 13th March 1941 at 9 o’clock on a clear
frosty evening, the brittle Clyde Valley air filled
with the eerie wail of the siren. Within minutes,
the elite German pathfinder force KG100 appeared
in the dusk sky. With the prowess of skilled executioners
the formation spread to mark their targets, and
far below Clydeside scuttled to safety. |
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As
the sirens faded, the night air filled with the
drone of laden bombers and the screams of descending
bombs. Thousands upon thousands of incendiaries
rained down and as the darkness fell, Clydebank
began to burn.
Clydebank 13 March 1941
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| "I
heard the siren and we ran from the hospital to
get to the shelter ... it was like daylight ...
they were dropping flares ... I couldn't believe
it ... they were so low I could see the crosses
on their wings ... and the noise . . . I've never
seen so many aeroplanes. They passed overhead and
within minutes we could see the red glow above Clydebank".
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"The
bombers had a strange vibrating drone that seemed
to come and fade, come and fade almost as if
their engines were going to cut out ... they
came in waves ... you would hear the bombs dropping
... then the drone would fade away ... you could
hear them coming from miles away and your heart
would sink".
"I
wouldn't have believed that the sound of an
aeroplane would put the fear of death into you".
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JU88 30"
x 40" |
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image to enlarge-
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Ablaze,
beneath a full moon, the target was marked.
Beckoned by the inferno on through the night,
wave after wave of bombers dumped their heavy
loads of high explosive and incendiaries into
the conflagration below.
Burning Town
66" x 50"
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