Tag Archives: Yorkshire

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 been able to pinpoint many of the affected buildings, houses and addresses. This includes a general summary of the damage inflicted on each specific property.

This is the first post in which I provide details of the addresses and damage 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.

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.

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 keep coming back to my website to check as I continue to add more posts listing affected houses.

For Part 2 – C to F click 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.
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. Roofs to wash-houses damaged – slates.
2. No damage listed.
3. Cross matching with 1939 Register I suspect this should be Brown Street.