Air Raids

Pembrokeshire suffered many air raids during the Second World War most of which were to occur between July 1940 and June 1941. The air raid sirens sent people running to their shelters on most nights during this period even when the County wasn't attacked because German bombers often flew over it to reach targets such as Liverpool, the West Midlands and Northern Ireland.

Raids were often launched by single aircraft, usually with very poor accuracy. On August 19th 1940, however, a single bomber hit the Admiralty oil tanks at Llanreath outside Pembroke Dock. The fire burned for nearly three weeks, destroyed 33 million gallons of oil and threatened to engulf the town. It was the largest ever fire in Britain and could be seen from North Wales. Fire crews from as far away as Bristol and Birmingham were needed to control the blaze.

From late September 1940 the Luftwaffe switched to mostly civilian targets and terror bombing at night after losing the Battle of Britain and daytime skies to the RAF. It was now the time of the Blitz. In Pembrokeshire Haverfordwest and Tenby were bombed as were several of the villages but the worst hit was Pembroke Dock which also contained barracks, docks and the huge RAF flying boat base. After being bombed several times over the winter Pembroke Dock was heavily attacked during the early hours of May 12th 1941. 32 people were killed, over 2000 homes destroyed or damaged and most of the population fled the town.

June 11th 1941 saw the last major air raid in Pembrokeshire when much of the badly battered Pembroke Dock was set ablaze by incendiary bombs. After this the raids declined in number and ceased by 1943.