75 Years Since The Blitz
The Imperial War Museum in Salford has teamed up with Horrible Histories to create an exhibition revealing what it was like for families during the Manchester Christmas Blitz.
It’s been 75 years since the Nazis dropped bombs over Manchester, devastating the city. Between 22nd-24th December 680 people died and thousands were injured or made homeless.
Just days before Christmas, families would be listening out for air raid sirens and seeking cover in Anderson shelters in their back garden. It’s difficult to imagine spending Christmas like this, but the Blitzed Brits exhibition has brought the spirit of The Blitz back to life.
Kids have a chance to learn what it was like growing up in wartime Britain. From hiding in a Morrison shelter under the kitchen table to smelling a 1940s toilet and creating culinary delights out of rations, the exhibition is incredibly interactive.
Items recovered from the debris and wartime Christmas presents are on display (not quite hover boards and IPads), some of which have fascinating origin stories. Previously unseen Nazi target maps demonstrate the German’s path of destruction.
Veterans visiting the exhibition have been recalling their memories as children living through the Manchester Blitz.
LISTEN: Susan Jones was 15 during The Blitz. As a gutsy teenager, she says she wasn’t often scared:
LISTEN: Geoffrey Whittle was 12 when he saw the damage left behind by the Nazis:
LISTEN: Doreen Herring was very young during the blitz but remembers a lot of festive spirit: