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Bristol was the fifth most heavily bombed British city of World War II. The presence of Bristol Harbour and the Bristol Aeroplane Company made it a target for bombing by the Nazi German Luftwaffe who were able to trace a course up the River Avon from Avonmouth using reflected moonlight on the waters into the heart of the city.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work=Bristol Blitzed )〕 Between 24 November 1940 and 11 April 1941 there were six major bombing raids. In total Bristol received 548 air raid alerts and 77 air raids with: * 919 tons of high-explosive bombs plus many thousands of incendiary bombs dropped in clusters * 1299 people killed, 1303 seriously injured and 697 rescued from the debris of bombed buildings * 89,080 buildings damaged including 81,830 houses completely destroyed and over 3,000 rendered unusable and later demolished.〔''Blitz over Britain'' by Edwin Webb and John Duncan 1990, page 90〕 == First raids == In a night raid on 2 November 1940, 5,000 incendiary and 10,000 high explosive bombs were dropped on the old city. On 24 November 148 Luftflotte 3 bombers left Germany to bomb Bristol: the attack started at 6.30pm with waves of 2 or 3 bombers passing over Bristol dropping some 12,000 incendiary bombs and 160 tons of high-explosive bombs; within an hour 70 fires had started; Park Street was "smashed"; Bristol Museum hit; 207 people killed and thousands of houses destroyed or damaged.〔Page 86 ''Blitz over Britain'' by Edwin Webb and John Duncan, 1990, ISBN 0-946771-89-8〕 The area that is now Castle Park was extensively damaged. The Jacobean St Peter’s Hospital was destroyed, and the 17th century timber-framed Dutch House was damaged and subsequently demolished. Four of Bristol's ancient churches (St Peter’s, the interior of St Nicholas, St Mary-le-Port and Temple Church) were also badly damaged. The St James' Presbyterian Church of England, Bristol was gutted. The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Alderman Thomas Underwood, described the effect of the raids as "The City of Churches had in one night become the city of ruins."〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work=24-hour museum )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bristol Blitz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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