Category Archives: History

In my post Batley’s First Air Raid – The Night of 12/13 December 1940, I wrote about the areas of Batley hit.

Since then I have pinpointed many of the affected buildings, houses and addresses, including a general summary of the damage inflicted on each property.

This is the seventh, and final, post with these details so you can identify if your home was part of this event in our local history; or if a home associated with your family history was affected. It covers street names starting with the letters U to Z.

One note of caution, although many house numbers remain unchanged from that period, some may have undergone re-numbering in the intervening years. The numbers here are as they were during the war, not as they are today. Other houses have long gone.

Also, though hundreds of addresses are listed, I am aware from my earlier research that this is not the complete inventory – there are areas of Batley hit that night which are missing from the list.

Some final points to be aware of. I have detailed the information exactly as it was written, so the damage inventory columns are not consistent. For example ceiling damage sometimes comes under ‘contents’, at others under the ‘generally’ heading. 

It is also clear this is not the complete story of damage inflicted. I am aware some buildings did suffer substantially more than is listed for them in the space-limited columns – for example gable ends needing rebuilding as a result of the air raid. 

And, to my mind, the list of contents ruined does appear suspiciously light. For example it is hard to believe that crockery and furniture in the majority of houses was undamaged given the structural damage listed. Again has space played a part? There are exceptions – in one detailed entry for an address in another post, although the contents were not listed in the space provided, they were an add-on insertion at the top of the page. It is hard to believe that contents in the majority of entries for other houses suffered no similar damage. I believe it is likely that individual household forms were completed initially and the information then collated and condensed on one form covering all addresses, meaning layers of detail being missed in this overall summary.

Anyway, good luck with locating your home. Don’t forget to scroll across the table to get the full details – there are columns detailing the property description, address, and an indication of the extent of damage (i.e. roof, walls, floors, contents and general damage). And do check my website as I continue to add more posts listing affected houses.

For Part 1 – A to B see here.
For Part 2 – C to F see here.
For Part 3 – G to J see here.
For Part 4 – K to N see here.
For Part 5 – O to P see here.
For Part 6 – Q to T see here.

Postscript:
Finally a big thank you for the donations already received to keep this website going. 

The website has always been free to use, but it does cost me money to operate. In the current difficult economic climate I am considering if I can continue to afford to keep running it as a free resource, especially as I have to balance the research time against work commitments. 

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated. 

Please click here to be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all. 

Thank you.

Footnotes:
1. In this section of the list the ‘Description’ column is largely blank. The implication is these are houses, not business premises.
2. No damage is detailed, but Number 64 was an insertion between rows and the implication from my reading of the list is that the damage was a window.
3. This building was also on a separate form where the only column relating to damage was “Indiction of Extent of Damage to Contents”. It seems to be a form reserved for those buildings which suffered serious damage in the air raid. The entry on the line for 118 appears to be Not Known on the basis of the ditto marks, referring to the entry for the buildings above. But it is also bracketed with W. J. Ineson and Sons warehouse on Well Lane which is marked as completely destroyed.
4. This building’s details are annotated on the back of the original form, then scored out. It then appears on a separate form which only has one column entitled “Indiction of Extent of Damage to Contents”. It states that it was completely destroyed. For more information see my post about Batley’s First Air Raid which states it was burnt out.
5. This building’s details are annotated on the back of the original form, then scored out. Owned by W. J. Ineson, it then appears on a separate form which only has one column entitled “Indiction of Extent of Damage to Contents”. It seems to be a form reserved for those buildings which suffered serious damage in the air raid. The implication being this was amongst the heavily damaged/destroyed buildings. The entry for this building, in the indication of extent of damage to contents, is difficult to read – it potentially says None which would not fit with this form. If it was undamaged it should not be included. Neither does it seem to fit with the details in my post about Batley’s First Air Raid about the H.Q. for First Aid Parties being burnt out.

In my post Batley’s First Air Raid – The Night of 12/13 December 1940, I wrote about the areas of Batley hit.

Since then I have pinpointed many of the affected buildings, houses and addresses, including a general summary of the damage inflicted on each property.

This is the sixth post with these details so you can identify if your home was part of this event in our local history; or if a home associated with your family history was affected. It covers street names starting with the letters Q to T. [Note for Prospect Terrace, Towngate Road see O to P, here.]

One note of caution, although many house numbers remain unchanged from that period, some may have undergone re-numbering in the intervening years. The numbers here are as they were during the war, not as they are today. Other houses have long gone.

Also, though hundreds of addresses are listed, I am aware from my earlier research that this is not the complete inventory – there are areas of Batley hit that night which are missing from the list.

Some final points to be aware of. I have detailed the information exactly as it was written, so the damage inventory columns are not consistent. For example ceiling damage sometimes comes under ‘contents’, at others under the ‘generally’ heading. 

It is also clear this is not the complete story of damage inflicted. I am aware some buildings did suffer substantially more than is listed for them in the space-limited columns – for example gable ends needing rebuilding as a result of the air raid. 

And, to my mind, the list of contents ruined does appear suspiciously light. For example it is hard to believe that crockery and furniture in the majority of houses was undamaged given the structural damage listed. Again has space played a part? There are exceptions – in one detailed entry for an address in another post, although the contents were not listed in the space provided, they were an add-on insertion at the top of the page. It is hard to believe that contents in the majority of entries for other houses suffered no similar damage. I believe it is likely that individual household forms were completed initially and the information then collated and condensed on one form covering all addresses, meaning layers of detail being missed in this overall summary.

Anyway, good luck with locating your home. Don’t forget to scroll across the table to get the full details – there are columns detailing the property description, address, and an indication of the extent of damage (i.e. roof, walls, floors, contents and general damage). And do check my website as I continue to add more posts listing affected houses.

For Part 1 – A to B see here.
For Part 2 – C to F see here.
For Part 3 – G to J see here.
For Part 4 – K to N see here.
For Part 5 – O to P see here.
For Part 7 – U to Z see here.

Postscript:
Finally a big thank you for the donations already received to keep this website going. 

The website has always been free to use, but it does cost me money to operate. In the current difficult economic climate I am considering if I can continue to afford to keep running it as a free resource, especially as I have to balance the research time against work commitments. 

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated. 

Please click here to be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all. 

Thank you.

Footnotes:
1. In this section of the list the ‘Description’ column is largely blank. The implication is these are houses, not business premises.