Hansard

I, too, congratulate Des McNulty on securing the debate and on his gracious and informative speech.

Before addressing the issue, I pay tribute to Bill Aitken, who stands down on Tuesday. In his 12 years as an MSP, he has been an exemplary example of someone who can make an enormous contribution not just in the chamber but in committee, which includes being a convener. He will be sorely missed in the Parliament.

There is not a great deal to add to what, in particular, Des McNulty and Gil Paterson have said about Clydebank. However, as always, the civil service brief on the matter is very informative and it provides additional information, much of which I did not know.

Having not been born until 10 years after the Clydebank blitz, obviously I was not around at the time, but I remember my grandmother, who lived in a high mining village in Ayrshire, saying that she would never forget the night that Clydebank was bombed, because from that village in Ayrshire they could see the German aircraft—the Luftwaffe—heading for Clydebank and, even from that distance, they could see the burning, because it was so ferocious. I will never forget how she described it.

Some of the figures are devastating. As Des McNulty said, Clydebank suffered the worst destruction and civilian loss of life in all of Scotland. The figures are mind boggling. As Des McNulty said, of approximately 12,000 houses, only seven remained undamaged. That means that over the two nights, 11,993 houses were damaged or destroyed—4,000 houses were completely destroyed and another 4,500 were severely damaged. In total, 8,500 houses in Clydebank were destroyed or severely damaged.

As has been said, the munitions factories were attacked and the Singer factory was hit as well. Of course, the munitions factories and the shipyards were the primary targets. There were 260 bombers on 13 March, with waves of high-explosive bombs, incendiary bombs and landmines dropped over a nine-hour period. As has been said, streets were devastated, fires raged and people were trapped in collapsed buildings.

On the second night, 14 March, while rescue work continued from the first night, 200 bombers returned and their bombing raid lasted for over seven and a half hours. Over the two days, 528 civilians were killed, more than 617 people were seriously injured and several housing schemes were completely wiped out. Moreover, 48,000 civilians—many of them shipyard workers and their families, who were packed into Clydebank tenements—lost their homes.

The production of ships and munitions for the allies was obviously the target, and a total of 460 bombers dropped more than 1,000 bombs. Royal Air Force fighters managed to shoot down two aircraft during the raid, but none was brought down by anti-aircraft fire.

The Polish destroyer ORP Piorun under Commander Plawski was at John Brown’s shipyard undergoing repairs. She joined the defence of Clydebank, firing a tremendous barrage at the Luftwaffe. A memorial to the ship’s crew can be seen in Solidarity Plaza in Clydebank.

The Glasgow Herald of 18 March 1941 stated:

“The cool, unwavering courage of the people is evident, and when the full story of their heroism in the face of the Luftwaffe is told, they will take their place alongside the citizens of London and Coventry.”

On 14 March 2009, a monument commemorating the 528 Scots civilians who were killed during the Clydebank blitz was unveiled by the provost of West Dunbartonshire Council, Denis Agnew, at Old Dalnottar cemetery in West Dunbartonshire. The names of those who died are inscribed in a bronze plaque. My colleague Jim Mather MSP, the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, recently represented the Scottish Government at a memorial service and delivered a reading.

I do not think that we can truly understand or imagine the ferocity of what happened on those two nights and the impact that it had for years thereafter on the people of Clydebank. As Des McNulty said, the devastation was such that probably only in the past 10 years or so has Clydebank truly started to recover from the impact of the blitz on those two nights in 1941.

Although we have had discussions and debates about issues such as the budget for Clydebank Re-built, we are all united in believing that we owe a duty and debt and have a moral responsibility to the generations of people in Clydebank who have suffered so much as a result of what happened on the two nights of the blitz. Irrespective of which party or part of Scotland we are from, we all need to dedicate and commit ourselves to doing everything that we can in the future—especially for the children and young people of Clydebank—not only to remember and commemorate what happened but to ensure that the future of Clydebank is secure industrially and commercially. We must do everything possible to ensure that the town has a prosperous future and, as Bill Aitken said, never again has to suffer the plight that it suffered on those two nights.

Meeting closed at 17:36.