Over two horrific nights in Salford in 1940, German bombers blitzed the city killing hundreds and injuring thousands of local people.
On the night of 22nd/23rd December, 270 German aircraft dropped 272 tons of high explosives and 1,032 incendiary bombs on Salford, and the following night 171 aircraft dropped another 195 tons of high explosives and 893 incendiary bombs. In all an estimated 684 people were killed and 2,364 injured.
The Friends of Salford Cemeteries Trust is commemorating the shocking events of those nights. At Peel Green Cemetery a memorial will be held at the graveside of the Green family, who lost three children during the raids - Elizabeth aged 16, Bernard aged 12 and Bernadette aged 6.
At Agecroft Cemetery's Blitz memorial garden a plaque will be unveiled to commemorate two twins born prematurely during the bombing raid who died five hours later. Their bodies were buried in the memorial garden, but their names were not on the plaque.
Salford and Manchester suffered terribly from bombing raids during the Second World War and these commemoration events show that no-one will ever forget the bravery of our people.
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR SALFORD BLITZ VICTIMS
Blitz Memorial Garden, Agecroft Cemetery
Sunday 18th December 11am
Peel Green Cemetery (near Crematorium)
Sunday 18th December 12noon