The Captain

The Plymouth Blitz 75th anniversary cross

The Blitz 75th anniversary cross. (Photo: courtesy of Babcock International)

A Remembrance - by The Captain

Today marks the 81st anniversary of the end of the major period of the Plymouth Blitz, which lasted from 6th July 1940 to 30th April 1944.

Plymouth was bombed 59 times, and the air raid sirens sounded their warnings 602 times.

The worst raids occurred in March and April 1941. During these raids, much of central Plymouth and Devonport was destroyed. 4448 civilians were injured and 1178 killed.

For area and population, Plymouth suffered more deaths and blitz damage than any other city in the UK.

To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Plymouth Blitz in 2016, Babcock’s joiners in Devonport Royal Dockyard constructed the oak and stainless-steel cross that is now in the base of the tower in St Andrew’s Minster.

The cross is faced with 1178 lights, each representing one of the civilians killed in the Plymouth Blitz.

St. Andrew’s itself was first hit on the night of 20th March 1941, and then hit again the next night. By the morning of 22nd March, the church was a burnt-out, roofless ruin. It was then that Miss Margaret Smith, a local headmistress, placed the famous Resurgam (I shall rise again) wooden board over the north door. Resurgam is now carved in granite over this door.