Image Bank
Swansea
Swansea, around March 1941
A photograph of Swansea, around March 1941. The burnt out building on the right was Lloyds Bank. On 19th February, 1941, Harold Grove the caretaker, and his family, were sheltering in the cellar when they heard a heavy thump. A very large bomb had landed just along Castle Street to the right, made a big crater, but had not gone off. They made tea and Welsh cakes for the bomb disposal squad who arrived the next day, and were given a fin when it was cut off. Harold’s daughter remembered them as ‘a cheery lot’.
But when they tried to hoist the bomb it exploded, the whole squad perished, and the blast was felt all through the town. The bank building was burnt out by the incendiaries that fell that night.
Activity: What's the story?
Look at the picture and read, listen to, or print the story.