The organisers are very excited to be able to include the Welsh Dragon Spitfire in this weekend’s programme of displays and celebratory entertainment. At 14:30 on Saturday 30th April this original 1940s fighter plane will perform a dramatic display above the famous River Mersey!
Privately owned by Anthony Hodgson, Spitfire PT462 was built at the Vickers Supermarine Castle Bromwich factory. This Mark IX aircraft is judged by many to be the best of all. PT462 was delivered to RAF Colerne in Wiltshire in July 1944, serving in action with 253 Squadron. After war service in France, Yugoslavia and Italy, PT462 was sold in 1952 to the Israeli Air Force. Converted into a two-seater during rebuild, this Spitfire took to the air once again in 1987 and was purchased by Anthony ten years later.
Anthony learned to fly at Liverpool Airport in the 1970s and operates from a sloping grass airstrip at Bryn Gwyn Bach near Denbigh.
Such historic flights are rare, with few remaining Spitfires in airworthy condition. Event Organisers express gratitude on behalf of the people of Liverpool for helpful assistance from the CAA and Liverpool John Lennon Airport for regulatory approval.
Quite a crowd is expected along the Liverpool waterfront. Weather permitting, the Liver Birds will hear the roar of that Merlin engine as the 67 year old Spitfire pays its own tribute to the May Blitz and the Spirit of Liverpool.
Northern Forties are a British 1940s re-enactment group with a mixture of civilians and military personnel. The group consists of a number of like-minded individuals who have lots of fun dressing up in wartime period clothing and their members come from as far afield as Harrogate in Yorkshire, across to Lincolnshire and Norwich to the east, Conway in North Wales and Northamptonshire in the South Midlands. The Liverpool Blitz 70 organisers are very pleased to have over 20 members of the group taking part in our 70th anniversary event!
Northern Forties will be based on Williamson Square for the duration of the event, representing a broad range of civilian and military persons who each had their own role to play in the war effort. Visitors will find members of the RAF, Royal Navy and Army, as well as evacuees and Land Army girls. Some may even catch a glimpse of a downed Heinkel Bomber Pilot having been apprehended by the Police!
Whether you’re a veteran of the Blitz on Merseyside or a veteran of War, we invite you to join in our parade through Liverpool City Centre at 10:30am Saturday 30th April…
The objective of the Liverpool Blitz 70 event is to remember all those who lost their lives in the air raid attacks on Liverpool and the surrounding area, but also to celebrate the ‘Spirit of Liverpool’. The organisers, D-Day Revisited, invite civilian veterans of the Blitz to join military veterans from the region in an official parade through the centre of Liverpool.
Liverpool always had a reputation for producing fast-thinking, brave and loyal soldiers and this reputation still stands today. A staggering 22% of all armed forces personnel come from Merseyside and the City of Liverpool has a strong historical connection with the military. This parade offers veterans of all ages and all conflicts an opportunity to come together and march through their own city alongside men and women who helped to keep Liverpool working throughout World War II whilst bombs were falling from the skies.
It is the organisers’ belief that the factory workers, the land girls, the shipbuilders, the policemen, the firefighters, the doctors, the home guard and indeed all men and women in voluntary or reserved occupation deserve to be celebrated for their enduring efforts and spirit of defiance. Without these people staying behind to fight on the Home Front, Britain could not have survived.
Shipbuilders at Cammell Lairds, Birkenhead, had a vital role to play during World War II
The parade will assemble at Williamson Square at 10:30am when the air raid siren will sound. War veterans and veterans of the Blitz will be treated equally and parade side by side. At 10:40 the City of Liverpool Pipe Band will lead the parade out of Williamson Square down Richmond Street, left along Whitechapel and left again up Church Street to the main stage. Approximately 50 members of Liverpool Scooter Club will form a guard of honour along each side of Church Street and spectators must remain behind these lines.
Once the contingent has arrived at its Church Street destination at 11:00 a two minute silence will be held in memory of all who were killed 70 years ago.
All that remains of the junction of Church Street and Church Alley in 1941
The air raid siren will sound the ‘all clear’ to mark the end of the two minutes silence. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool will then lead the wreath laying ceremony, followed by the Mayor of Wirral. Chindit, George Main, was injured in Liverpool during the May Blitz of 1941 and will lay a wreath on behalf of all Liverpudlian veterans of the Blitz. Normandy veteran, Albert Dillow, will then lay a wreath on behalf of all Wirral veterans of the Blitz.
Further wreaths will be laid by local MPs, dignitaries, veterans, representatives of Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere Football Clubs, representatives of the Police and Fire Services and representatives of local businesses. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Hazel Williams, will then make a speech welcoming everybody to the event.
All veterans of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces are asked to wear blazers and medals and all civilian veterans of the Blitz are kindly requested to dress smartly. If you would like to take part and have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch on 01244 531 765. For more details of the events taking place in Liverpool City Centre 30th April – 2nd May, please see our Schedule of Events.
We are very pleased to announce the talented Miss Heather Marie McHale will be performing on Monday 2nd May at the Liverpool Blitz 70 event! Heather Marie is a fantastic vocalist and will be performing well-loved 1940s favourites at 12:30pm and 4:30pm on the Church Street stage.
Growing up in St Helens, Heather first discovered a love of singing in high school and went on to progress this through GCSE and A Level Theatre Studies and singing lessons with Joanne Edwards. Heather decided to go professional in September 2009 and has performed throughout the UK for private functions and national charities such as the RAF and Help for Heroes.
Born and raised in the northwest of England, George Formby was a well loved singer-songwriter and comedian. Remembered fondly for playing the banjo ukulele or banjolele and as a singer of light, comical songs, he became a popular star of stage and screen. Between 1934 and 1945 Formby was widely recognised as the top comedian in British cinema.
Formby endeared himself to his audiences with his cheeky Lancashire humour and folksy northern persona. In film and on stage, he generally adopted the character of an honest, good-hearted but accident-prone innocent using the phrases: “It’s turned out nice again!” as an opening line; “Ooh, mother!” when escaping from trouble; and a timid “Never touched me!” after losing a fistfight.
Formby appeared in the 1937 Royal Variety Performance and entertained troops with Entertainments National Service Association in Europe and North Africa during World War II. He received an OBE in 1946. His most popular film, still regarded as probably his best, is the espionage comedy ‘Let George Do It‘, in which he is a member of a concert party, takes the wrong ship by mistake during a blackout, and finds himself in Norway (mistaking Bergen for Blackpool) as a secret agent. In one dream sequence he punches Hitler on the nose and addresses him as a “windbag“.
We are delighted that local performer, Derek Herbert, will be sharing his “George Formby Story” each day at the Liverpool Blitz 70! event on the Church Street stage.
Derek’s entertaining verbal and musical tribute act to George Formby includes a light-hearted talk on his life, self-accompanied by both ukulele and ukulele-banjo, during which Derek encourages audience participation. An accomplished singer and musician, Derek studied drama and music at the renowned Crane Studios in Liverpool and has a wealth of musical theatre experience.
As part of the 70th Anniversary of the May Blitz celebrations, Punch and Judy will be returning to the city to once again entertain the children (young and old) of Liverpool!
In 1860 Richard Codman, woodcarver, puppet showman and musician, arrived in Liverpool and was awarded a prime site on an open cobbled square known as the “Quadrant” between the market and Lime Street Station. Professor Codman, as he was known, began entertaining the people of Liverpool on a regular basis with his ‘Punch and Judy’ puppet shows.
The shows became very popular and Professor Codman’s Punch and Judy quickly won the hearts of the people of Liverpool!
Richard continued his puppet shows until his death 47 years later when his eldest son, Richard Junior, continued in his father’s footsteps and kept the tradition going in Liverpool. His second son Herbert took the show to North Wales where it enjoyed great success at the seaside!
Back in Liverpool, Richard was equally as successful as his father. In 1922 the Sandon Studios Society, an artistic body in Liverpool, arranged for a subscription committee headed by Mr A Parry, then Chief Librarian, to commission the famous Liverpudlian sulptor H Tyson-Smith to carve a beautiful Punch and Judy booth with figures taken from ‘Punch‘ magazine as a gesture of appreciation.
Sadly, the famous Quadrant site no longer exists. However, through public demand, the show was temporarily housed in St. George’s Hall and occasionally appeared in Williamson Square.
After Richard Junior’s death in 1951, the Liverpool show was continued by his son Richard (third) and on his death in 1985, by his son Ronald Richard. Ronald’s son Robert will succeed his father and continue the tradition as the sixth generation of the Codman dynasty.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Blitz, Professor Codman will be performing in Liverpool City Centre once again!
We are very pleased to introduce “Blitz and Peaces” who will be on the streets of Liverpool City Centre entertaining and educating visitors to our great city, leaving them feeling they have had a real opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds of the home front!
The Blitz and Peaces team are incredibly enthusiastic about what they do and have been busy researching the historic details of Liverpool’s experience during the May Blitz in 1941 in preparation for our anniversary event. Dressed in various full WWII uniforms, they will no doubt capture the imagination of the young and trigger the memories of the old with their songs and stories about life in Britain on the Home Front.
When asked why they do what they do they said, “We all love the sense of triumphant human spirit over almost insurmountable odds to ‘keep the home fires burning’ and we all marvel at the ‘save the string’ and ‘make do and mend’ re-cycling drives that were in operation during the war years. This of course has subsequently come back into sharp focus as people realise the global importance of controlling our own waste and re-cycling used materials.
We love the ‘live for the moment, as who knows what tomorrow will bring’ ethic of people who volunteered to go in to combat in the armed services, and those thrust into danger on the home front from the bombing raids. Men and women putting life and limb at risk by joining fire services, rescue parties and medical teams, in order to pull together as a community and help their friends and neighbours during this time of peril.“
Along with the static Spitfire, military memorabilia and vehicles, we are looking for pre-1941 civilian cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles to go on display in Liverpool City Centre over the bank holiday weekend 30th April to 2nd May! All cars will be on static display 10:00 – 18:00 each day on Williamson Square, Church Street & Whitechapel, and owners are encouraged to get into the spirit of the event and wear 1940s dress. Remember it’s all for a good cause!!
Attendees needn’t commit to the whole weekend but for those attending two or three days, Queens Square Car Park is kindly offering a discounted rate for secure overnight parking.
We have already had a great deal of interest and a list of vehicles has been compiled, but we still have space for more so if you own a pre-1941 vintage car and would like to register to join in for one, two or all three days please get in touch stating your name, your vehicle and which days you would like to attend.
If you don’t own a beautiful pre-1941 vehicle, no problem, nor do we! Come along, bring the family and enjoy the fantastic display over the weekend!
Liverpool Blitz 70! was a whole city event which took place from Saturday 30th April to Monday 2nd May to mark the 70th anniversary of the May Blitz of 1941.
Whilst giving proper respect to those who lost their lives during the bomb raids of the Second World War, the event was intended to be a celebration of the spirit of the Blitz and indeed, the spirit of Liverpool!
About