There were eighty air raids on Merseyside in total, with an especially concentrated series of raids in May 1941; the May Blitz. The Corn Exchange which had stood on Fenwick Street for over 130 years was destroyed during the night of 2nd/3rd May. The bombs left only the entrance standing. When traders next arrived at work they found their offices had been flattened.
Undeterred, they first conducted their business as best they could on the street, later moving to local coffee houses so they could continue trading more comfortably. This situation was not unusual; the civilian population learned to be flexible and roll with the punches in order to keep Liverpool working, but it wasn’t easy…
Blitzed galleries at the World Museum Liverpool
An independent bookshop is obliterated on Church Street 6th May 1941
A wider view on the same Church Street facade - notice the bookshop in the lower right corner
Employees recover what they can from the LMS Good Station on Caryl Street
Officials conduct their meeting in the street surrounded by rubble
University of Liverpool Department of Engineering
The Interior of Wallasey Town Hall after an air raid
A cotton warehouse on the corner of Nelson Street and Byring Street, Bootle
Princes Street Bakery in Bootle 1940
Men work to clear the bomb damage on Scotland Road 1940
Could you carry on in the face of such devastation? If you arrived at your place of work to find it had disappeared overnight, would you be able to Keep Calm and Carry On?
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