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At 11.12 pm on Saturday May 3rd 1941 the Air Raid Alert sounded over North Shields. Locals hurried as usual to the air raid shelter beneath Wilkinson's lemonade factory. At midnight, a single bomb from a lone German raider scored a direct hit on the three storey building. Walls, machinery and debris collapsed into the shelter. 107 people, 41 of them children under 16, were killed. It was the worst bombing incident in North East England during World War II.
Robert Westall, the award-winning author of The Machine Gunners, was a North Shields schoolboy at the time. His father was an ARP warden in the town. Westall used his wartime experiences as a backdrop to many of his novels. Westall's War explores the Wilkinson's disaster using quotations from the novels to introduce archival material held by Tyne and Wear Archives Services..
It is now over sixty years since the disaster and many of those whom we originally interviewed for this site have passed on. The story of Wilkinson's is still unfinished. We would like to hear from anyone (survivor, family, friend, local resident) with a connection to the Wilkinson's bombing - we need to hear your stories. This site is a tribute to those who lived through the disaster and a memorial to those who lost their lives.
- About Robert Westall
- Air Raid Story
- In Memoriam
- A-Z Listing of Victims
- Database
- Database: Age Search
- Database: Shockwave
- Learn More...
- Luftwaffe Stadtplan
- Tynemouth Bomb Map
- Luftwaffe Pilot's View
- Luftwaffe Aerial Photo
- Shields Evening News
- Town Clerk's Report
- Raids Elsewhere
- Photos and Film Footage
- Official Air Raid Figures
- After the Raid
- Air Raid Warden's Report
- Mr Barron's Damaged Dentures
- Mortuary Form: Luftwaffe Pilot
- Death of a Merchant Seaman
- Home Guard
- Church Bells: Invasion Warning
- Four Pigs Puzzle
- Salute the Soldiers
Photos
children at the bomb site
site clearance
heavy squad clearing the site
shelter entrance (bottom right)
Comments
dear Ms MAVIN after readind your reminiscence on the Wilkinsons tsheltertragedy we are related som
• winifred trotter:
read entry
I knew Robert Westall well. His son Chris was my pillion passenger to work everyday until his death.
• PeterHardy:
read entry
I live at Linskill Terrace and whilst renovating my property 2 years ago I found a clear glass bott
• Mrs Julia Reilly:
read entry
Robert Taught me at SJDGS - hopeless as i was at Art. Remember him though as a very real man - made
• Trevor Moss:
read entry
Some people think that the internet is just for fun but as this wonderful site proves, it can be used for so much more.
Newcastle Journal
...a fascinating study that puts the horror of war on a very human scale
BBC Online Best of the Web Guide
This brilliant site...
Imperial War Museum
It is excellent and perfect for use in schools. I am really impressed by the organisation and information offered by the site. Superb.
Andrew Field: schoolhistory.co.uk
Seriously impressed by your website: will enhance my teaching no end...
David Williams: English Co-ordinator, Bothal Middle School
BECTA Guardian Website Awards 2002
Shortlisted Final 10
Recent news
23.06.2009
23.06.2009
Nora Sturrock
Dear Sir
Have just found your interesting web site .
The photo is of my parents George & Nora Sturrock taken in Northumberland Square.
Reading about my Mother and Father George and Nora Sturrock I note it is said that Sandy&Arthur Frankland were her cousins in fact they were her brothers .
My father also lost a brother who never returned to North Shields Fish Quay after the small fishing boat he was on was torpedoed
My parents were lucky on another occasion when they were in a Cinema in South Shields and decided to leave and go for the North Shields Ferry when they heard the air raid Siren the cinema was bombed during the air raid .
On another occasion they were machine gunned by a German airplane as they were going home down the back lane that was opposite the entrance of The Albion Cinema .
My Father was a Welder which was a reserved occupation and was stationed at Tynemouth firing Anti Aircraft Guns .
I didn,t realise how dificult it must have been to actually hit an airoplane. He used to joke about being awarded with one and a half hits for the whole of the war saying he didn,t understand how he got half a hit .
He used to put weld into the Bullet & shrapnel holes in the large Gas Tanks at Howdon which were full of Gas at the time. They had to dive into a doorway to dodge the bullets .
Regards
George Sturrock
Mrs Nora Sturrock lived in Upper Queen Street. She and her boyfriend George (later husband) were standing in the doorway when the Wilkinson's bomb blast flung them both into the passageway covering them in lime dust. George was one of the first at the scene.
They both knew that their cousins were in Wilkinsons. 'Sandy' Alexander Frankland was killed, Arthur survived although he was buried up to the neck in rubble and Billy was flung clear smoking at the entrance.
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I Remember...
11.06.2009
11.06.2009
Wilkinson's Memories Down Under!
This from Caroline Ralph in Adelaide
Just a note to say how much I love your website!
I was born and raised in Whitley Bay and spent every weekend with my Grandma, who lived in Tynemouth. When we were youngsters, my Gran used to delight us with her stories of the war years. One particular story related to Wilkinson’s Lemonade Factory. So it’s been brilliant to actually be able to read the facts surrounding the tragic incident.
My Grandma’s parents used to own The Clock Vaults public house in North Shields. I can’t quite picture the proximity between that and the Lemonade Factory. Would it be possible for someone to explain this to me? I’d be very grateful.
Thanks again, and you really do have a wonderful site!
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News
26.01.2009
26.01.2009
More Info on Mary Harrison memoirs
information below received recently from Mark Fawcett,
Please let Mary know (if you have her email details) that information she seeks ref the sinking of the ships her uncles served on during the war is available via a website called uboat.net .
The 'Black Osp' that Mary refers to was the Black Osprey and can be found using the search facility for what happened on 18th Feb .. turns out it was sunk by U96 whose captain was strongly linked to the famous film 'Das Boot' .
The other boat Mary refers to as 'SS Eff' is listed as Effna and was torpedoed on Feb 28th 1941.
Appropriately both ships were registered to Newcastle owners ... uboat.net also has a picture of the Black Osprey and details the coordinates of where both ships were sunk .
Thanks Mark, hopefully Mary is tuning in!
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Contacts
Tyne and Wear Archives Service
Peter Hepplewhite
peterhepplewhite@gateshead.gov.uk
www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk
T: 0191 232 6789
Website - ictGateshead
Peter Bolger
pbolger@ictgateshead.org
www.ictgateshead.org
0191 460 2900
