Clydebank Blitz - build-up:
Glasgow, Greenock, Aberdeen and the coastal burghs of the north east were all bombed during the war, but Clydebank suffered the sad distinction of being the most heavily damaged town in Britain. Clydebank was an obvious target - home to heavy engineering factories and shipbuilding yards which had been turned over to war production. The population was instructed in civil defence. We talk to Kathleen McConnell and Gavin Laird, who grew up in Clydebank during the war. They tell us about the air raid precautions that were in place and about the shelters and baffle walls at the entrance to their tenement closes. Hugh Savage, who worked at John Brown's shipyard, says that Clydebank was living in a 'Fool's Paradise' – English cities were being hit but they didn't believe it would happen to them.
Glasgow, Greenock, Aberdeen and the coastal burghs of the north east were all bombed during the war, but Clydebank suffered the sad distinction of being the most heavily damaged town in Britain. Clydebank was an obvious target - home to heavy engineering factories and shipbuilding yards which had been turned over to war production. The population was instructed in civil defence. We talk to Kathleen McConnell and Gavin Laird, who grew up in Clydebank during the war. They tell us about the air raid precautions that were in place and about the shelters and baffle walls at the entrance to their tenement closes. Hugh Savage, who worked at John Brown's shipyard, says that Clydebank was living in a 'Fool's Paradise' – English cities were being hit but they didn't believe it would happen to them.
