Kilbarchan residents recall Clydebank Blitz on 80th anniversary

The Kilbarchan woman is among a dwindling number of people who are able to recall the Clydebank Blitz.

This weekend marks the 80th anniversary of the devastating aerial attack launched by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.

Official records from the time state that 528 civilians perished as Clydebank was bombarded on March 13 and 14, 1941, although it is widely thought the death toll was significantly higher.

Eliza, of Low Barholm, told The Gazette: “I remember the noise of the bombs. You could feel the vibrations.

“I was very young at the time and my parents didn’t tell me what was going on.”

Clydebank’s production of ships and munitions for the Allied forces made it a target for the Germans.

Over the course of the two nights, a total of 439 planes dropped 272 tonnes of bombs.

Such was the ferocity of the attack that those watching from the relative safety of Renfrewshire’s hills were able to get an idea of the destruction that was unfolding.

Home Guard troops were posted to defend Kilbarchan at a dummy gun position

A newly-published book – Listen Closely: An Oral History of Kilbarchan 1900-2000 – tells how villagers in Kilbarchan were impacted by what took place.

David Carlin, who was a teenager at the time, had been catching rabbits at the top of the village with two friends when he witnessed the inferno from afar.

He said: “We watched the lights, the flashes and the noises. It was like a firework display.

“I saw a lot of ack-ack (anti-aircraft) fire.”

Further down the village, Willie Borland, of the Home Guard, and two colleagues were overlooking the road from Brookfield to Bridge of Weir.

Willie’s son Eric recalled: “They had a dummy gun that sat down on the Branscroft to fool the Germans.

“They’re sitting there with this gun that couldn’t shoot and the Germans were bombing Clydebank. They could see it all happening.”

For villagers who had no direct view of the Clyde valley, the terrible air raids could still be seen and heard.

This huge bomb failed to explode after hitting soft ground near Milliken Mill Farm

And there was a close call for those living at nearby Milliken Mill Farm as a German bomb fell so close to the property that the force of its slipstream blew all of the slates off the byre.

Thankfully, the bomb failed to explode as it hit soft ground between the farm and the railway line which passes through Milliken Park station.

A large hole was later dug so the explosive, which was buried around four metres deep, could be defused by a bomb disposal officer.

Images of the bomb’s removal by non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were snapped by amateur photographer James Henderson.

Meanwhile, a Kilbarchan-based Auxiliary Fire Service unit was part of the emergency response sent to Clydebank to deal with infernos caused by the bombing.

Among the team was Irene Gibson’s father, Willie McCaw, and she recalls the physical signs of what he had experienced as his unit fought fierce flames and thick smoke.

“He might have been there a couple of nights,” she said. “He was absolutely black.”

Irene’s family had relatives in Clydebank and her dad advised his wife to find out if they were safe.

This badge, worn by brave members of the Auxiliary Fire Service, was found in Kilbarchan

“My mother went over and took me,” said Irene. “She obviously didn’t have any idea of what it was like.

“We went by public transport, the Renfrew Ferry, and we took a tram up to Dalmuir.

“We walked after that. Singer’s [sewing machine factory] was alight.”

Luckily, Irene’s relatives hadn’t been in Clydebank when the bombs fell.

She said: “We found out that they had gone to Skye in the morning.”

The weekend after the bombardment saw arrangements being made in Kilbarchan to rehouse Clydebank families who had lost their homes in the carnage.

The village school was shut the following Monday and Tuesday as teachers placed evacuees in their new homes.

Two weeks after the first evacuees arrived, 45 pupils from Holy Cross R.C. Primary arrived at the school, where they remained for months.

A huge hole was dug so a bomb could be defused. Pic courtesy of Dr Ian Trushell

Some went on to stay in Kilbarchan, rather than returning to Clydebank.

Among those in Kilbarchan left grieving after the bombs fell were Mr and Mrs Borland, of Easwald Bank, whose son John and daughter-in-law Georgina were killed in Whitecrook Street, Clydebank.

Three airman who were part of the 309 Polish Squadron, formed in Renfrew in 1940, were also killed during the Blitz.

Pawel Radke, Antoni Ptaszkowski and Zygmunt Sokolowski were extinguishing fires at St James Church, in Renfrew, when a German plane dropped a bomb as it made its way to Clydebank.

Paisley would also suffer terrible human loss two months later, when a devastating explosion killed 92 volunteers working at the Woodside First Aid Post.

The deadly blast, which took place in the early hours of May 6, 1941, is now remembered as the town’s worst wartime disaster.

Listen Closely: An Oral History of Kilbarchan 1900-2000 costs £15 and is available from local outlets in Kilbarchan, such as USave, Bobbins coffee shop and E Williams Butchers, as well as online at www.thirstybooks.com/bookshop.

Profits from sales of the book are being split between St Vincent’s Hospice, in Howwood, and the Erskine veterans charity.