The town was evacuated. 48,000 refugees were set adrift and spread afar, many never to return. That evening, Clydebank still burning, the bombers returned to a near deserted town to complete their task. When the drone of the last bomber had faded 528 lay dead and over 1000 had been seriously injured.

It had often been said that Clydebank Blitz was unsuccessful. The basic objective of the blitzkrieg to cause as much dislocation and social upheaval as possible and to strike terror into the hearts of the population. A massive housing loss suffered; 4,000 had been completely destroyed, 4,500 seriously damaged. In all only seven houses out of a total of 12,000 remained intact.

Bannerman Street

Many industrial targets received directs hits or severe blast damage and incendiary damage; Beardmores, The Royal Ordnance Factory, John Brown’s Shipyard, Arnott Young, Rothesay Dock, Tullis Engineering and Singers Factory, the massive Singer’s wood yard destroyed. Many large schools and churches perished. At one of the primary targets – the MOD oil storage at Dalnottar, on the periphery of the town – eleven huge tanks had been destroyed, others severely damaged. Millions of gallons of fuel were lost in the resulting inferno. When the site was finally cleared, 96 bomb craters were counted .

There can be no doubt that the Blitzkrieg in Clydebank succeeded in causing massive dislocation and hardship to the population. But Clydebank people were no stranger to hardship, as those acquainted with the towns history will know. More importantly, the psychological effect was the exact opposite of what was intended. Rather than divide the community and throw it into frenzied panic, it strengthened and immeasurably hardened peoples’ resolve to survive and resist.

There was however a lingering anger, tinged with sadness. The once close-knit communities passionately desired to be reunited. This never happened. The ties severed, many thousands drifted; time passed and people began to make new lives else where. Many still bear the mental and physical scars; all have vivid recollections. The Blitzing of Clydebank was as far-reaching in time as it was in effect.

First Avenue

Crown Avenue

Second Avenue

"It was terrible to see the town that you lived and grew up in disappear in two nights' 'they should have rebuilt the place to give the people a chance ... they had paid dearly".

Second Avenue

Holy City

Kilbowie Hill

"They just bulldozed the rubble into heaps and hid it ... it lay about for too long ... it makes me angry when I think about it."

" It was far too long before they thought of starting to rebuild the town ... it was too late ... people had been moved elsewhere and had begun new lives."

'Years later ... I cried when they pulled down Singers Clock ... you could see it from anywhere in Clydebank ... I thought ... Oh, God! It was the only thing left ... it came through the Blitz untouched ... it was a symbol of survival and meant so much to the people of Clydebank ... I hate them for that." "I remember even years after the Blitz ... the sound of an aeroplane ... people would stop in the streets and look up, then look at each other ... nothing needed to be said." "For fifteen years after the Blitz I shook uncontrollably every time I heard an aeroplane ... it took me all that time just to get over it"

Singers Clock viewed from Second Avenue

The Holy City

''I can't help it ... I still cry when I think of the people that I used to know...."

Blitz 9

....List of Casualties.....

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