Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 17 March 2021
I, too, thank Gil Paterson for lodging the motion. He had a specific reason for doing so, which is not widely known: Gil was the role model who was used for Private Pike in “Dad’s Army”. Members can add the years together and work it out for themselves.
Although the devastating aerial attacks against the United Kingdom in the second world war started in 1940, it was not until March 1941 that the Luftwaffe focused its efforts on some of Scotland’s large industrial towns.
On 13 and 14 March 1941, more than 200 Luftwaffe bombers devastated the town of Clydebank. The first assault was against the factories but, as has been said, on the second night, the workers’ houses were most terribly hit in the blitz. Of the 12,000 homes in Clydebank, fewer than 10 remained undamaged, and 4,300 were destroyed when 90 tonnes of high explosives and hundreds of incendiary bombs fell, all on a densely populated area of just 2 square miles.
The main factory targets included the armaments factory, the Singer Machines sewing-machine works, the John Brown and Company shipyard, and the William Beardmore and Company engine works, all of which employed large numbers of people from the nearby area of Temple, which is now in the Anniesland constituency, where much of my family comes from.
My granda Davie Gray built a large Anderson shelter round the back of his home, as was fitting for someone with 13 children. He also took in neighbours during wartime. In fact, it is well known within my family that, at this time—on 14 March 1941—when the family had retreated to the Anderson shelter, an old man who lived in the close came running in, in a state of undress, and said to my granda, “Davie, they’re really throwin it doon the night. We might no be lucky this time.” My granda said to him, “Yer right, Willie, but A’ll tell ye, there’s a lot o weans in here—away and put some bloody troosers on.” That story is well known within my family. My granda was a stone mason, so his language is not quite suitable for the Parliament, so thank you, Presiding Officer.
The official death toll from the bombings was 528, but it is widely believed that the number was higher than that. On 17 March, 11,350 people were recorded as being homeless and were allocated alternative accommodation. The German bombing campaign on Clydebank resulted in more death and destruction than happened elsewhere in Scotland during the second world war. Many of the survivors left the town to seek refuge; of the 50,000 residents, only 2,000 remained in town after the second night of bombing. Despite that, for the sake of the war effort Bankie workers made their way back to the town to work in the hastily restored factories—bar the engine works, which was completely destroyed. Many people slept in bomb shelters and churches, and returned to see their families only on weekends.
Those efforts ensured that, within a few weeks of the bombings, industrial output in Clydebank had returned to peak levels. Workers in Clydebank factories were vital for the war effort, producing battleships, arms, munitions, and even Singer sewing machines, which sustained quick production of army uniforms. The outcome of the second world war was determined by the resilience and efforts of people like them across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
The collective response of people who were faced with extreme adversity saw us rise from the ashes to keep on fighting until the war was won. It is that spirit that we remember today, alongside the many lives that were unjustly lost. We should draw lessons from that resilience as we find ourselves in another time of significant challenge from Covid and the loss of family and friends.
19:21