Readie
Chief Master Sergeant
During the period June 1940 to May 1944 the Luftwaffe are known to have lost 105 aircraft, with others suffering various degrees of damage, during operations against targets in the Bristol area. This resulted in the death of 257 German airmen, with a further 65 being injured. On the British side, as far as can be ascertained, in what is now the County of Avon some 2046 people lost their lives and 5961 were injured as a result of enemy air attacks on the area. Of these Bristol suffered 1243 kiled and 2903 injured, Bath 417 killed and 952 injured, Weston super Mare 138 killed and 478 injured, Filton 135 killed and 335 injured, Yate 57 killed and 175 injured, North Somerset 36 killed and 57 injured and South Gloucestershire 19 killed and 61 injured. In addition to the tragic loss of life material damage to the area had also been serious, and following the end of the War in 1945 Bristol City Council announced that over 3000 houses had been completely destroyed and a further 90,000 properties damaged. In Bath a total of 19,147 premises had suffered damage, of which 1185 were houses, some 218 being of architectural and historic interest. 329 houses and shops were totally destroyed, and a further 732 had to be demolished. At Weston super Mare 282 premises were totally destroyed, while 7757 houses, 6 industrial establishments, 581 offices and shops, 85 churches and public buildings, and 18 other premises in the town had been damaged.
Even today few people can fail to be moved by the sight of the personal monuments to the victims of the Second World War, especially the neat rows of German and British military graves at Greenbank Cemetery in Bristol, at Haycombe in Bath, and at Weston super Mare, where men of both nationalities lie side by side. In this account, based as it is upon German records, it is fitting that the names of individual airmen lost on operations against the area should be recorded, not only in the spirit of reconciliation, but also in commemoration of their suffering and as a tribute to their sacrifice.
John
Even today few people can fail to be moved by the sight of the personal monuments to the victims of the Second World War, especially the neat rows of German and British military graves at Greenbank Cemetery in Bristol, at Haycombe in Bath, and at Weston super Mare, where men of both nationalities lie side by side. In this account, based as it is upon German records, it is fitting that the names of individual airmen lost on operations against the area should be recorded, not only in the spirit of reconciliation, but also in commemoration of their suffering and as a tribute to their sacrifice.
John
