Today, whilst in Eastwood New Cemetery, Glasgow, I came across various headstones recording unidentified bodies the deaths of which being attributable to "enemy action on Glasgow, March 1941".
Although Eastwood is some 10 miles south of Clydebank, I have to assume the deaths are attributable to the bombing raids detailed below.The supporting information has been obtained from the National Records of Scotland website.
On the nights of 13-14 and 14-15 March 1941 Luftwaffe bombers raided Clydeside and inflicted casualties in several industrial centres. Glasgow suffered the highest number of fatalities (about 650), but in proportion to its population of about 50,000 the burgh of Clydebank suffered the worst. According to an official count in 1942 the Clydebank raids killed 528 people and seriously injured 617, compared to totals of 1,200 people, and 1,100 in the whole of Clydeside.
The Germans’ main targets in Clydebank were the armaments factory in the Singer Sewing Machine works, John Brown & Company’s shipyard, and Beardmore’s engine works. Singer’s lost a valuable stock of timber, other works suffered partial damage, but the engine works of Aitchison Blair were completely destroyed. A report by the Civil Defence Regional Commissioner on 3 April included an assessment of the impact on industrial production on Clydeside. After ‘first-aid’ repairs to many buildings were carried out, it was claimed that production returned to near normal levels, except at badly damaged works.
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