Blitzed Liverpool revealed in new photo exhibition

Destruction wrought by the Luftwaffe is being remembered in a new exhibition of photographs opening at the Museum of Liverpool tomorrow.

Blitzed Liverpool features 60 images taken by Liverpool City Police photographers during 1940 and 1941 when the city was ravaged by bombing.

The free exhibition also features personal accounts which will help bring to life the effect the bombing had on those who were directly involved.

It is divided in to three sections – city centre and shops, homes and neighbourhoods, and industry, docks and transport.

Thanks to its key role as a port, and the hub of the Battle of the Atlantic, Liverpool was one of the most badly affected cities in the UK during the Second World War, with 4,000 people killed and 70,000 made homeless. Around 10,000 buildings were destroyed.

The worst sustained campaign of bombing took place between May 1-8 1941, in what became known as the Liverpool Blitz.

Kay Jones, NML Curator of Urban Community History, says: “Seeing these striking images of desolation alongside the experiences of people who were there really brings home what this city and its people went through.

“They reveal many stories of personal tragedy but also the incredible resilience of local people.

“The legacies of these bombings can still be seen and felt in the city today. They also remind us of ongoing conflict around the world and the continuing terrible human cost.”

John McEwan, who was born in 1939 and was evacuated from his home in Salisbury Street, Everton, adds: "I remember after the war, if I went in to town with my mum we'd see debris everywhere. You just took it as you found it.

"We had a bomb site in our road and it was our playground."

Visitors will be invited to share their own memories along with reactions to the photographs, and the exhibition will also include the chance to experience ‘wartime aromas’.

Blitzed Liverpool is at the Museum of Liverpool from June 14.

Photos: Top - the Overhead Railway struck during the Liverpool Bitz in May 1941. All photos by Merseyside Police