The+Christmas+Blitz+in+Manchester

=The Christmas Blitz in Manchester=

====During late 1940, the Nazis were often bombing Britain. On the nights of December 22/23 and 23/24, 1940, the worst of the bombings occurred. The German Luftwaffe bombed Manchester and the area around it.====

====Many well known and important buildings in Manchester were destroyed or sustained some damage. The Manchester Cathedral, Free Trade Hall, Victoria Building (pictured), City Hall, and many other significant buildings were damaged. The bombings were the first time that Manchester was damaged on that scale====

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====The Christmas blitz is not a ball, party, or grand event as I first though. It is actually a bombing that took place in 1940; this bombing lasted the nights of Sunday 22 and Monday 23 in December. These bombings were launched by the German Nazis Luftwaffe and were one of the wars largest air raids. Manchester was the main target but the bombs also hit some of the surrounding towns. A lot of places in Manchester suffered the effects of these bombs but one of the main hits was the Weaste Cemetery. You can see that many headstones still have the effects of the bombs; they bare the scares of these dreadful nights. The cemeteries were hit because the pilots of the bombing planes were aiming for the docks by Trafford; they were also supposed to hit the industry buildings in that area.==== ====Over these disastrous two nights 441 bombers dropped around 467 tons of highly explosive materials. Out of the many bombs dropped 1925 of them made their way to Manchester and hit and destroyed the lives of many. In just two nights 684 people were killed and many homes, workhouses, and important buildings were destroyed. More than 2,300 people were injured and they were left homeless from the destruction of the World War II bombing. Some of the most important buildings that were destroyed are the Free Trade Hall, Cross Street Chapel, the Corn Exchange and Smithfield Market.====

The Manchester Blitz was a real heavy bombing of Manchester in December 1940. The bombing took place during the second World War by the Nazi Luftwaffe.It was a very important port at the time. It also was a big industrial area and a lot of trading happened around Manchester. The first place that was bombed was the Palace Theater on Orthodox Street.

The heaviest of the bombings took place on the the nights of December 22nd into the morning of the 23rd, and again the next night - the 23rd into Christmas Eve morning. On the first night, the Germans had almost 300 aircraft bomb the area. They dropped 1032 canisters of incendiary bombs, and 272 tons of high explosives on the city. On the second night, 171 aircraft dropped 839 canisters of incendiaries, and 195 tons of high explosives. An estimated 684 people died, and 2,364 were wounded between these two bombings. Many parts of Manchester, Salford, and Stretford were severely burned, blown up, or destroyed. The defenses of Manchester were very low because many of the people were helping at Liverpool, which had been bombed before Manchester. **The Nazis said that the whole city of Manchester was turned down after all the bombings happpened.**

The bomb's worst hits, or attacks were on the Manchester Cathidral, the Royal Exchange, and the Free Trade Hall. When Manchester was bombed the whole town was covered in broken buildings, rubble, dust and smoke. The whole town looked as if it were covered in snow. After the Manchester Christmas Blitz bombing Manchester would never be the same ever again. When people came out from their two nights in the shelters they claimed all they could see was the red sky and the dust still lingering in the air. The day after there was no transportation to get anywhere so people walked to work because no one would miss any more work than they had to. It was truly a sad sight and many would never be able to live the life they had when they went to the shelters just two days before. To this day Manchester is still digging up remains of people who were lost in the bombing and they are trying to rebuild the lost remains of the town. It is truly a disaster and will never be forgotten in the war as one of the most devastating bombings in England.

By: Madelyn Rogge