Norwich Blitz

Norwich became one of the targets of the so-called "Baedeker Blitz", which took place in retaliation for the bombing of Lübeck by the RAF earlier that year.

Lord Haw-Haw made reference to the imminent destruction of Norwich's new City Hall (completed in 1938), although in the event it survived unscathed.

Significant targets hit included the Morgan's Brewery building, Coleman's Wincarnis works,[4] City Station, the Mackintosh chocolate factory, and shopping areas including St Stephen's Street and St Benedict's Street, the site of Bond's department store (now John Lewis) and Curl's department store.

The city's death-toll for the year amounted to sixty-one, of whom twenty-six were killed on 9 July during the first raid which Norwich sustained.

[8] Raids were being carried out on Exeter, Bath, Canterbury and York, and incendiary bombs were responsible for a large proportion of the damage done.

In Norwich, the raid that began on the evening of 27 April 1942 was the most severe to hit the city during the war, being carried out by bombers of KG2, KG106, who were led by the pathfinders of I/KG100.

Notable examples included the thatched department store, Bonds, on All Saint's Green as well as the historic Old Boar's Head inn, which were gutted by fire.

In addition, the junction between Barn Road and St Benedict's Street was completely destroyed, with only the city wall surviving.

Ralph Mottram, author of Assault Upon Norwich, stated that "those of us who drove through the blazing streets had an unpleasant reminder of old days of Ypres and Armentieres (First World War)".