Bombs on Calcutta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home ● Sitemap ● Reference ● Last updated: 03-October-2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there
are any technical problems, factual inaccuracies or things you have to add,
then please contact the group
under info@calcutta1940s.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
The rapid progress of the Japanese through
South-East Asia in early 1942 was finally stopped on the borders of India. The
immediate threat of invasion had seemed to recede until in late 1942 the
Japanese made their presence felt again.
Calcutta was just within range of Japanese bombers,
and through-out 1942 and '43 they did their best to disrupt the operations of
the port and create panic among the population.
Where Were the Jap Planes?
There were signs of
victory — U.S. victory — in the reports from bombed Japan. They were signs that Japan's air strength is waning.
In Japan and elsewhere, there were even signs
that Japan never did have the kind of air strength which she must have
for final victory.
Not Enough
"Zeros?" If the U.S., in daylight, lost only nine of 60 planes — as
the Japs once reported — something was
seriously wrong with Japan's air defenses. If the U.S. raiders lost only two or three — as the Japs
first reported — Japan has no air defenses
to speak of. Whatever the true figure, Tokyo evidently had few fighters
at home to shield herself.
This indication bore out
one of the most significant trends of the Pacific war. Japan seems to be running out of her best
fighters, the Navy "Zeros," which must be the spearheads of her defense against air
attack. Last week the A.V.G.'s Brigadier General Claire Chennault reported from Burma that his U.S. fighter-pilots
had destroyed more than 200 Jap
pursuits. The Zeros are fast-climbing, highly maneuverable, highly powered (1,675-h.p.) single-seaters. And even the
Zeros, despite their superior maneuverability,
have been no match for the faster, Allison-engined P-40s and their
superior U.S. pilots. Lieut. General
George H. Brett, the United Nations air commander in Australia, reported that United Nations airmen were destroying six
Jap planes for every Allied plane lost in
that area.
Can Japan Keep It Up?
When Japan began her Pacific march, she had perhaps 5,000 combat planes of all types, ages, conditions. She
had no "Japanese Air Force"; she had two air services, completely integrated in the Army
and Navy. Enthusiasts like Major Alexander de
Seversky (see p. 52) would say in fact that Japan had no real air power;
like the U.S., she had only air
auxiliaries.
Some 2,500 of Japan's
planes were "first-line" combat craft, and many of these 2,500
were technically inferior to
corresponding U.S. and British types. The other 2,500 were mostly slow, ancient, underpowered, underarmed
crates, some of which did not even have
retractable landing gear (see cut). Furthermore, Japan has had very
heavy losses — some 1,100 planes,
undoubtedly including a high proportion of her best.
Nevertheless, Japan today
probably has more planes — in over-all total — than she had in December. Reason: high though Jap losses
have been to date, they are still slightly less than Japan's probable rate of aircraft production. Last autumn
she was reportedly building about 300
combat planes per month, was aiming at 600 per month by the end of this year. But overall totals, even over-all
replacements, are not what count in the kind
of war Japan faces. What counts is whether her production is geared to
replace the types which she is losing,
as fast as she is losing them — and she is losing fighters, may be losing even her best bombers, at a rate
higher than any she probably expected.
How Did They Do It? The
Japanese had more than enough planes for the first stages of their war. In the entire Pacific area the
Allies probably had fewer than 1,500 combat
planes, and these were widely dispersed, in small batches. Concentrating
one at a time on their chosen fronts,
the Japanese always had more at any given point than the Allies had.
Geography and planning
gave the Japs this local superiority. If the Japanese front was fantastically wide and Jap supply lines
long, the U.S. and British lines, from supply
sources to the battle areas, were infinitely longer. Moreover, if the
Jap fronts stretched far from home,
they were nevertheless fairly close to each other. Result: the Japs could switch squadrons back & forth
from one front to another, from Malaya to Java, from Java to Burma, and could usually base them near their next
objective. Old crates could be used
where opposition in the air was inconsiderable or nonexistent. Until last week, one such place was Japan itself.
Added to this local
preponderance was the enormous value of the Japs' carrier forces. At the war's start, they had at least 20
carriers (one or two have been sunk). Nine were flying decks for land-type planes, eleven were seaplane carriers of
limited capacity. Most were small: in
six U.S. carriers, the Navy put about as many planes as the Jap had in all 20. But these small carriers gave the
Japanese a highly mobile force, designed to
concentrate quickly at the points where local superiority meant
everything.
Now the air balance is
shifting. Brigadier General Royce and his U.S. bombing raiders were attacked by very few Jap planes over
the Philippines. Over New Guinea and Australia, the United Nations have aerial superiority for the present, and
there are other signs that the Burma
front and the Bay of Bengal (see p. 20) are about all that Japan's air services can handle at one time. Japan's air
superiority in the Bay of Bengal is the
smallest she has yet had in any important area.
The air raids on Japan,
and the threat of more to come, were bound to affect Japan's strategy of local superiority. Now the Japs
will have to keep more of their fighters at
home. Even more important, the Jap air services have been geared to
offensive war. Whenever and wherever
they have had to go on the defensive, against anything like effective attackers, they have dismally
failed.
Increasingly, from now
on, Japan is going to be on the air defensive.
(source: TIME Magazine, New York, Apr. 27, 1942)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Time Magazine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Raid Precautions
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________
Blast walls
Blast walls show as well as the hand-spattered paint on building walls, an attempt to tone down their brightness during black-out periods. This is in Calcutta's central business district, but I do not know the name of the buildings or the exact . The evidence of an accidental fire still shows on the ground level of the tallest structure.
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Blast walls, C020, "Blast walls show as well as the hand-spattered paint on building walls, an attempt to tone down their brightness during black-out periods. This is in Calcutta's central business district, but I do not know the name of the buildings or the exact . The evidence of an accidental fire still shows on the ground level of the tallest structure." seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Air Raid Precaution
Training
Malcolm
Moncrieff Stuart, I.C.S. (Indian Civil Service) District Magistrate Howrah ,
Calcutta
(source: personal
scrapbook kept by Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart
O.B.E., I.C.S. seen on
20-Dec-2005 / Reproduced by courtesy of
Mrs. Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart)
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 December 1942 - First Japanese Bombing Raid
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
In the Dark
CALCUTTA was "blacked-out" from sunset yesterday to sunrise' this morning. This was the city's first all-night "black-out".
With the international situation daily deteriorating it did not require much effort on the part of the authorities to convincc the people of the necessity of this enforced darkness.
At the beginning of the "black-out" the streets were full of people. The majority of shops, especially the big establishments were closed. Those of the smaller shops that remained open showed subdued lights through half-dosed shutters. In some houses also glimmers of light were discernible. But as the night advanced the lights were completely extinguished and the city was engulfed in darkness but for a few lights showing here and there.
In Chowringhee and the surrounding area, clubs, hotels, restaurants and cinema houses were in darkness so far as their exterior was concerned, but nevertheless they attracted their usual complement of patrons.
(source: The Statesman. Calcutta/Delhi, March 4, 1941)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with The Statesman)
Calcutta's Raid
WITH the opening of offensive operations in Burma, it was to be expected that the Japanese would seek to probe out and, if possible, knock out bases in India. Chittagong has been attacked several times. On Sunday night, Calcutta had its first raid. It was a small affair and, if the city has to be raided, it can be described as a very suitable introduction. It was a reminder both of the strength of the city's defences and of the fact that, however, good defences are, raiders will come through. Some who can speak with authority regard the defences of Calcutta as the best outside Britain. However, this may be. the Japanese evidently had sufficient respect for them to come at night and flying high. This has disadvantages as well as advantages. They are unlikely to hit what they are aiming for, but they may hit what are very certainly not military objectives.
(source: The Statesman. Calcutta/Delhi, December 22, 1942)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with The Statesman)
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
a far cry from Bury St. Edmunds
I
listened to my father talking about his experiences in the A.R.P., when he was
at home and after his return from India.
My
father, Edward Little, was deputy A.R.P. officer for Southend-on-Sea. He had a
maroon helmet because of his rank and drove a Vauxhall car. He had a special
petrol allowance, but kept to the rules, and the rest of the family were not
allowed in the car.
He
was sent to Bury St. Edmunds in the early 1940s for further training as an
instructor. My father was then sent to Calcutta to instruct the Indians. The
headquarters for this operation was the Nizam of Hyderabad’s palace — a far cry
from Bury St. Edmunds.
Edward Little, A.R.P. officer , Calcutta,
early 1940s
(source: A4281220 Stories my father told me at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
The shrill warning of the siren cut short our meal …
Meanwhile the daily routine continued as before. One evening during the cold weather we were entertaining two friends for dinner and had just finished the first course when the shrill warning of the siren cut short our meal. Hurriedly leaving the table we wakened the twins and rushed down to the air raid shelter. There was a standing order that in the even of an air raid all staff had to proceed to the mill office. The women and children were to be under the charge of the chief mill manager, Will Robertson. We were also told that if we should hear the sound of a rattle it was a warning of an approaching gas attack. As we were not provided with gas mask what purpose this warning would serve was open to conjecture. Ron and or friend’s husband hurried off to the mill. Inside the crowded shelter it was hot and uncomfortable with the mosquitoes having a field day. One of or ladies […] was regaling us with the delights of being in Australia where she had spent her last leave, and where, she added with a side glance at our senior lady, there was no jat and everyone was equal. This enlightening talk was suddenly interrupted by the dull thud of a bob dropped somewhere in the distance followed by another. At this point, Will, who had been keeping watch outside, popped his head into the ‘henhouse’ and in a voice pregnant with forboding announced, “Ladies, I hear the rattle.” The effect was devastating. “Do ye no mind”, cried one lady in despair, “how during the first war our soldiers peed on their socks and held them up to their noses. What can we do?” There were no suggestions. “ My bairn, my puir, wee bairn, “ lamented another, clutching her child to her breast. She was joined by a wailing chorus from the children. It was all rather alarming. Just then the welcome ‘All clear’ sounded. Everybody joyfully scampered back to their houses.
Eugenie Fraser, wife
of a jute mill manager, Barrackpore,
late 1942
(source:page 103-104 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing 1989)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)
a lot of people were nervous about air raids
In early 1942, with Japan into the war, a lot of people were nervous about air raids. Around that time one of us discovered that an inverted hockey stick, pushed along at just the right angle, would judder and make the floorboards of the verandas vibrate. About ten of ten were doing this one day, producing a wonderful roar, unaware that our dormitory matron had her head out of her flat window, anxiously scanning the skies for massed Jap bombers.
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria School. Kurseong 1939-1946
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 – 1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with John Gardiner)
Apart from a small hole in the road in front of the Great Eastern hotel there was nothing much to see
The following morning we went off with the twins to Calcutta to see what damage was caused by the bombing. On our way we were met by the astonishing sight of a great exodus from Calcutta. Men, women and children, cars and lorries of all descriptions, donkeys, goats tethered to carts, parrots in cages on top of lorries, one solid mass of humanity were moving along the trunk road, all terrified out of their wits trying to reach a place of safety anywhere away from Calcutta. We continued on or way but apart from a small hole in the road in front of the Great Eastern hotel there was nothing much to see.
Eugenie Fraser, wife
of a jute mill manager, Calcutta, late
1942
(source:page 104 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing 1989)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 December 1942 - Japanese Christmas Raid on Central Calcutta
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
the staff who had been on duty on Christmas Eve
Calcutta was bombed by the Japanese on 24th December 1943. I had just arrived at work for my 9 pm to 8 am shift when we heard the sirens. I worked for the ARP.
The Japanese released bombs all over Calcutta and a goodly share of them fell over the area in which our home was situated. As the reports came into the office from the wardens, I was beginning to think I would not have a home to go back to.
The ‘all clear’ went just after midnight and the then Governor of Bengal and his wife and ADC came to our office to see how we had faced up to the bombing.
A couple of weeks later, Lord Wavell, on a trip to Calcutta, came to visit the area and was introduced to all the staff who had been on duty on Christmas Eve.
Glad to say our home was not destroyed, though several gardens nearby were.
Susan Primer-Foster, ARP
worker, Calcutta,
194
(source: A3370268 A CALCUTTA EXPERIENCE DURING WORLD WAR II at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
"Where was the RAF, do they have the weekend off?”
I
was an armourer with 67 squadron and we had just returned from Chittagong, we
were at Alipore, not on "readiness" but preparing to become
operational. On I believe the Saturday, less than 24 hours after our return the
Japanese bombed Calcutta in daylight. Although far from prepared we struggled
to get some Hurricanes into the air. I recall re-arming the Brownings of a
couple of aircraft and several got airborn.
Imagine
the anger of the squadron from CO to the lowest erk when on the following
Monday the Calcutta newspaper was very scathing, "Where was the RAF, do
they have the weekend off?”
It
was decided to show these critics sat at home with their gins that the RAF did
exist.
On
the following weekend a particularly important race meeting was to be held at
Calcutta racecourse, imagine the members chagrin when as the race commenced Hurricanes
appeared at nought feet "beating up" the racecourse. Horses went
everywhere and I believe the race was concluded in the slowest time on record.
I
saw no further criticisms of 67 or any other squadrons.
[…]
Leslie Chippett, Royal Air Force armourer, Calcutta, 1943
(source: A4040506 My Dads memories of 67 Squadron on the Arakan Penninsula at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
The ’42 Christmas Raid
In 1942 the Japanese paid us a Christmas visit. On Christmas Eve, I was at a dinner party given by Mr Castonier, the managing director of the Danish East Asiatic Company.
Suddenly, we heard a droning sound, high up above us. The sirens began their wailing alarm; and we could see, in the beams of the searchlights, a V-formation of aeroplanes right above us. We ducked back into the house at once. Suddenly, the anti-aircraft guns began to bark, but it was impossible for them to reach the planes, for they were far beyond the range of our guns.
A few seconds later, the first bomb dropped, but a good distance from the house. Then followed blast after blast. The sound came from the centre of Chowringhee. We continued our dinner as if nothing had happened. After singing a few Christmas carols, about midnight, we all wished each other 'Merry Christmas' and separated. I lived near Government House and made my way there on foot, as no conveyance could be had on account of the raid.
It is not easy to discern what object the Japanese had in mind. The bombs - all antipersonnel - had fallen over a fairly large area: Chowringhee, Bentinck Street, Mango Lane, Old Court House Street, Dalhousie Square (east and south), and one in the compound of St John's Church - not 100 yards from my house! The bombs were, no doubt, meant to kill Europeans wandering about greeting each other during Christmas Eve. Very few, however, were hit.
On Bentinck Street, six British soldiers were in the act of teasing a Brahman bull when a bomb dropped among them. Only fragments of them were found. In a compound on Mango Lane, a bomb killed six Indian watchmen belonging to Messrs MacKenzie Lyall & Co. Of course, many windows were blown to bits by the blasts; otherwise, very little damage was done.
The Central Telegraph Office suffered the most damage from bomb splinters: several wooden window blinds were shattered and perforated. A bomb fell on the plinth of Sir Andrew Frazer's statue in Dalhousie Square. It broke the corner of the plinth and buried itself in the soft earth alongside. The whole foundation was cracked, when the bomb went off, but Sir Andrew remained standing.
August Peter Hansen, Customs Inspector, Calcutta Christmas 1942
(source: pages 207-208 of August Peter Hansen: “Memoirs of an Adventurous Dane in India : 1904-1947” London: BACSA, 1999)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with 1999 Margaret [Olsen] Brossman)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1942 - Japanese attack on Kidderpore Docks
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
The bombing of Calcutta
Some bombs were dropped, not very big ones, by Japanese aircraft on Calcutta, which lost far more people by death in their hasty flight from the city than by the bombs. Those who remained had the excitement and thrill of seeing three Japanese bombers brought crashing down by one English airman.
Friends of Father Douglass, Missionaries and Charity workers in Behala, Calcutta, 1942.
(Source: Father Douglas of Behala. London, 1952 / Reproduced by courtesy of Oxford University Press)
To the air raid shelter
One
of my last memories of that time is going to the pictures with my eldest sister
Marie, who used to look after all her younger brothers and sisters and in fact
continued to be a benefactress to all of us as long as she was able. The film was "Caught in the Draft". On the way to the cinema
there was an air raid signal and we all trooped into a nearby shop where there was
an air raid shelter. I should think this must have been around 1942 when the
Japs were bombing Calcutta. Although this is my only conscious memory of an air
raid, the sound of a siren like an air raid siren still has the effect of
throwing me into a panic.
Elizabeth James (nee Shah), AngloIndian schoolgirl. Calcutta 1942
(source: page 14 Elizabeth James: An Anglo Indian Tale: The Betrayal of Innocence. Delhi: Originals, 2004 / Reproduced by courtesy of Elizabeth James (nee Shah))
The nurses, she said, piled mattresses on top of the two of them
One of the girls was a Jewish girl called Dolly and the other was a Burmese girl whose name I have forgotten. Dolly was quite a character and used to tell us yams about the time when she was in the P.G Hospital in Calcutta having her appendix out- In those days post-op patients were not allowed out of bed for several days after the operation and she said the Japs bombed South Calcutta and she
and another woman who had a Caesarean Section were the only two patients left in the ward. The rest had been taken to air raid shelters. The nurses, she said, piled mattresses on top of the two of them and left them to God and the mercy of the Japs. She made it sound funny but I expect she must have been terrified at the time and so totally helpless.
Elizabeth James (nee Shah), AngloIndian secretary. Calcutta, 1951
(source: page 52-53 Elizabeth James: An Anglo Indian Tale: The Betrayal of Innocence. Delhi: Originals, 2004 / Reproduced by courtesy of Elizabeth James (nee Shah))
Shortly after the bombing we moved to Ranchi
Shortly after that we moved to Ranchi which was literally, a one-horse-town. There was one main street called Main Road and the rest was all dirt tracks with mainly large houses set: in larger gardens which belonged to people who owned either tea plantations or tobacco plantations on the outskirts of the town.
Elizabeth James (nee Shah), AngloIndian schoolgirl. Ranchi, mid 1940s
(source: page 14 Elizabeth James: An Anglo Indian Tale: The Betrayal of Innocence. Delhi: Originals, 2004/ Reproduced by courtesy of Elizabeth James (nee Shah))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
05 December 1943 - First Japanese daylight raid on Calcutta
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________
Air Battle
Malcolm
Moncrieff Stuart, I.C.S. (Indian Civil Service) District Magistrate Chittagong ,
Chittagong
(source: personal
scrapbook kept by Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart
O.B.E., I.C.S. seen on
20-Dec-2005 / Reproduced by courtesy of
Mrs. Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart)
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
We went up on the roof and actually watched the Japanese bombers
I did not want to go back to school in Simla and I eventually managed to persuade my father to agree to my attending a commercial college in Calcutta. After qualifying, I got a job with the military organisations. While I was working there, there was an air raid. A few of the civilian staff, including me, went up on the roof and actually watched the Japanese bombers flying overhead on their way to bomb the docks. We had many air raids and, on one particular night when the docks and tram depot were bombed, our whole house shook. That was very frightening.
Mary Anderson
(nee Hezmalhalch), office worker, Calcutta, 1943
(source: A2640601 A Schoolgirl’s War in the Far East at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
“This
is definitely a bandit, you have our authority to fire”
We
were sent on a jungle survival course which took about 4 weeks and then we
finished our journey and arrived with 89 Squadron in Baigachi, just north of
Calcutta. Sorties were flown from there over Burmah, and also eventually from
Hmawbi and Cox's Bazaar. These were mainly Night fighter flights under ground
control, but there was also fleet support in the Bay of Bengal.
Most
night flying by the Japs had by now ceased. The ground control unit in Calcutta
was new and inexperienced. I was scrambled on one occasion to intercept a
bandit approaching Calcutta and I got behind him about 50 miles east of the
city. At this point Ground control said “This is definitely a bandit, you have
our authority to fire” It looked very much like an American DC3 to me, but to
be sure I got right under his tail to verify that it was not the Japanese
look-alike, and then got my RO to fire off the colours of the day which they
did not respond to, but they now had their lights on and I followed them in to
Dum Dum airport and tore a strip off Ground Control, telling them never to
order a pilot to open fire, a pilot of little experience may well take them at
their word. When I landed I got in touch with Dum Dum and told them that their
crew that landed at such and such time was lucky to be alive, they must
remember to switch on their IFF.
Harry Burkitt, Royal Air Force, Calcutta, 1944
(source: A6110489 THE RAF AND OUR WAR PART 2 at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
"I've got my bird in my pocket - well you wouldn't want it to be killed by the bombs would you?"
My family lived in Calcutta where we had a few air-raids by Japan when Singapore fell and Burma was invaded. Due to the distance the Japanese planes had to fly to reach Calcutta. They carried fairly small bombs which, luckily, did not wreak the damage endured in London.
We lived on the third floor of an apartment block and had to go down to the ground floor when the siren went. During one air-raid we were sitting on the stairs of the ground floor when we heard a bird chirping -my mother asked my brother where the noise was coming from. He replied "I've got my bird in my pocket - well you wouldn't want it to be killed by the bombs would you?"
The main target was the dock area of Calcutta but a few bombs did fall in the city. There was slight damage in the park at Dalhousie Square - the main casualty being the statue of Lord Dalhousie himself. We later collected bits of shrapnel from the bombsites as souvenirs of our air-raid experiences.
I remember being terrified - having lost my father in March 1939, I lived in fear that my mother also would die, leaving me orphaned.
[…]
Edith Rosemary
Ingels (nee La Rivierre),schoolgirl, Calcutta, 1942-3
(source: A4390283 The Incident of the Bird's Survival at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
we would provide the Air defence for Calcutta
In October 1940 we were ordered to our base
in Coventry just in time for the massive air raids on the city.
In
January 1942 we were posted overseas, originally bound for Singapore, but it
fell whilst we were on our way. We landed in Durban, but Monty had enough
artillery so we headed for Colombo, but were diverted to Bombay. It was decided
we would provide the Air defence for Calcutta on the other side
of India.
We
were there until march 1944. by then the Japs were close to invading India, so
all white, mechanised units were disbanded and we were converted to infantry.
We became Sherwood Foresters and after eight weeks training most of the 204 and
293 Batteries were transferred to the East Yorks Regt. However, the Foresters
offered about a dozen of us who had done well in training a job as instructors.
Alan Gray, 293rd
(Birmingham) Battery Royal Artillery, Calcutta, 1942-44
(source: A4120291 Birmingham's Forgotten Regiment at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
Our ARP warden was a dear old Englishman
I remember the bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese, the target being Howrah Bridge. That morning had been a lovely clear and breezy day and we were flying kites. Some of the neighbourhood boys would coat the string of their kites with broken glass powders, get involved in kite fights and would break the thread of their rival kite flyers. Across the road a family who had a dove-cote were flying their pigeons.
We all had duties to perform when the siren would sound, such as putting a small bag with a piece of black rubber, Vaseline and bandages around our shoulders. We had no fridge in those days and drinking water was stored in earthen jars on the veranda. When the siren sounded that day, my parents brought in the water jars and my sisters and I ran downstairs to the ground floor and hid in the air raid shelter. Our ARP warden was a dear old Englishman, Mr Nicholson who used to wear a helmet and an ARP band round his arm. I can still remember his huge moustache and his buckets of sand.
During the air raids, Mr Nicholson would entertain us children with toy whistles, little paper hats — he was good at "Origami" and would fold brown paper into lovely decorative shapes. When the “all clear” siren sounded we would leave the shelters and look at the damage. Not far from our house was an Ismaili Religious Centre — called “Jamaat Khana” — it had been bombed — 2 cows had been killed. There was broken glass and shrapnel everywhere.
The bombing of Calcutta led to an exodus of residents — Howrah and Sealdah Stations being packed with people trying to get out. Some of our street hawkers also disappeared — we never saw our bread delivery man again.
Katyun Randhawa, a young Indian (Parsi) girl, Calcutta, 1942-3
(source: A5756150 The bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese Edited at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
As a little girl I used to always get very frightened during the bombing
I remember as a little girl aged 8 years old living in Calcutta during WW2 in our extended family. The Japanese bombed the city every night at that time as it was an important city and capital of the British Raj. As it was getting dark the air raid siren used to start and we all had to go into our basement room for safety. We often had to stay for two hours or more and until the all clear was sounded. We used to have our dinner early to eat before the air raids. As a little girl I used to always get very frightened during the bombing. One night when we were in the basement we heard a very big bang very close to us. So we had to remain in the basement all night and the next morning we found that the Japanese had dropped a bomb near the shopping area closeby. My uncle took me to to area to show me the bomb crater which was very wide and deep.
Bitha Das, 8 year old girl, Calcutta, 1942-3
(source: A3889489 Childhood in Calcutta India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
The ’43 Kidderpore Dock Raid
They came again in 1943. This time their object was the Kidderpore Dock with the ships lying at them. It was noon when they showed up. And to give the Devil his due, as the saying goes, they had very few misses. Bomb after bomb dropped on ships and warehouses. They were above the range of our anti-aircraft guns and must have been well informed, because our air defence fighter squadron had been sent away on a mission, so the Japs knew themselves safe.
It
is correct when I say that a man was later discovered at Fort William, who said
he was half-Chinese. He had a job in the Wireless Telegraphy Department and was
sending messages on the QT to the Japs. He was then put against the Fort's wall
and shot for treason.
August Peter Hansen, Customs Inspector, Calcutta 1943
(source: page 209-210 of August Peter Hansen: “Memoirs of an Adventurous Dane in India : 1904-1947” London: BACSA, 1999)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with 1999 Margaret [Olsen] Brossman)
Life in the Trenches
My father was called out at all hours in order to [… and] help out at various bombed sites where the Japs left their calling cards. Wailing sirens sounded and the civilian population were sent scuttling down to basements, behind 'blast walls' that were built in the front of all larger entrances to buildings and anywhere that looked safe. I recall seeing sandbags built in or near windows to act as protective buffers against shrapnel. Zig-zag slit trenches were created in areas of open parkland. We had some that were provided for our building and the 'Thana' or police sub-station next door.
Apart from us children who made use of these trenches to play out war games with water pistols, sticks, bows and arrows and mud ball grenades, they were hardly ever used by the general public. I bit clean through my anti-shock rubber on one occasion when our building was narrowly missed by a Jap incendiary.
Ron M. Walker, 7 year old
boy, Calcutta, 1942-3
(source: A2780534 My Wartime Childhood in Calcutta, India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Pring - Our Hero
During these many regular
air-raids we usually listened to All-India Radio. The reception was not good as
commentary was frequently interupted by pops, shrieks and whistles caused by
atmospherics. Our hero was an Indian Air Force Hurricane pilot by the name of
Pring. He was a squadron leader who, night after night, shot down Zeros in
fierce combat. We used to listen to his exploits with baited breath; we became
an integral part of this man who was up there fighting our battles for us. It
was rather like listening to a soccer match in the sky. We reacted to his every
valiant move and kill with rapturous joy.
He became the focal point of a Zero attack in the early hours of one morning. As we sat in the flckering glow of a lamp, we stared at one another in utter disbelief -through the static came the unmistakable whining of Pring's death dive - the end of our friend . There was a silence that seemed to last for a eternity. We all cried unashamedly . The poignant wail of the all-clear broke the unnerving quiet, its initial bellows slowly becoming a series of muffled moans.
Ron M. Walker, 7 year old
boy, Calcutta,
1942-3
(source: A2780534 My Wartime Childhood in Calcutta, India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
just how attractive aircraft were
The wide road which was
like the Mall in London and which led directly towards the Victoria Memorial,
one of Calcutta's larger colonial buildings dedicated to the Empress, was cordoned
off and converted into a temporary landing strip for fighters. It was known as
'Red Road' and became home to Hurricanes Spitfires Typhoons Lysanders and the
like.
It became a favourite haunt of mine and I used to take a sketch pad and make drawings of these aircraft from the perimeter fencing. This is when I first realised just how attractive aircraft were especially the Hurricanes and spitfires. I spent many happy hours watching them taking fuel taxiing around being armed and taking off and landing. They made us feel very safe somehow just knowing that they were there.
My friends and I made model planes out of wood and flew them about in out-streched arms and we also collected fragments from crashed aircraft. We especially valued the thick perspex from cockpit canopies as we used to fashion dress rings from this material. Our tools were shards of glass with which it took is ages to obtain a ring from . The coloured 'stone' settings were made from toothbrush handles cut down into smaller pieces These in turn were slotted into the perspex rings.
Ron M. Walker, 7 year old
boy, Calcutta,
1942-3
(source: A2780534 My Wartime Childhood in Calcutta, India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
"Scramble everything"
On
11th October we were taken to Allahabad in a Wellington X the pilot was F/Sgt Palmer.
On 12th October we continued our journey to Arkonsol and from there Sgt McCabe
an Australian flew us in a Beau VI (JL265) to join 176 Squadron at Baigachi and
as we approached it we thought what a God forsaken place it looked as the area
seemed to be a mass of lakes after the start of the Monsoon.
During
the next few weeks we did various tests day and night but on the morning of 5th
December 1943 when Bob and I were down at flights to do a night flying test
(NFT), a message came through that a large enemy bomber force was approaching
our aerodrome presumably making for Calcutta. F/Lt Green our
Intelligence Officer was instructed to put the Squadron on readiness so we
stood by. At that time our Squadron consisted of Hurricanes and Beaufighters
all equipped for night flying. To enable the Hurricanes to carry radar they
were stripped of their armour protection.
As
I understood it the Beaufighters were to stand by to fly to an aerodrome well
to the North of Baigachi and the Hurricanes were to stand by on readiness. I
was with F/Lt Green when the message came through from Group which was
"Scramble 176 Squadron" F/Lt Green then said "Scramble the
Hurricanes "? Group came back "Scramble everything"
At
approximately 11.30 hours four Beaufighters took off the flight commander being
F/Lt Peter Hill. The details were:
Beaufighter
V8821 "I" F/Lt Peter Hill Pilot
W/O
Cox Navigator
V8456
"G F/S L. Atkinson Pilot F/S Simpson. Navigator
V8459
"A" Sgt L.A Norris Pilot
Sgt
A.S Moss Navigator
V8804
"E" Sgt K.R Aunger Pilot Sgt P.J.L Lee Navigator
I
recall that it was a lovely sunny morning and while we were slowly climbing to
meet the enemy we could hear various aircraft in trouble and their pilots were
in communication with operations asking for assistance. Fortunately for us we
were only able to get to approximately 21,000 feet at which height we were
wallowing about and were unable to get any higher so operations instructed us
to return to base. Had we been able to get much higher we would have been sitting
ducks.
10
minutes after we were airborne five of our Hurricanes took off led by F/Lt
Derek Brocklehurst a pleasant and cheerful person. The remaining four were F/Lt
G.R. Halbeard (Bluey), F/O A.M.O. Pring,D.F.M., P/O Whyte and W/O E.R. Harris.
Shortly
after being airborne the Hurricanes were vectored on to the raid thinking they
were to intercept a lone recce but in the event they were jumped on by some
Navy A6M Zeros. Pring (really a Beaufighter pilot) Bluey Halbeard and Whyte
were shot down, Harris returned to base unscathed and Derek Brocklehurst who
had been shot up managed to get back and land safely although I believe his
aircraft was a write off. Regretfully Bluey Halbeard and Maurice Pring were
killed and Andy White who had been posted missing, turned up at Firpos three
days later having walked for many miles.
December
5th was a very sad day for us and for me it brought home the realities of war
with two members of my Squadron being killed. Our C/0 W/C H.G Goddard was
particularly upset over it.
After
this disaster the remaining Hurricanes left 176 Squadron and were replaced by
Beaufighters.
Peter Lee, Royal Air Force, Calcutta, 1943
(source: A2740394 176 Squadron RAF Nightfighters at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
in case of a sneak raid
From
24thMarch to 27th March Bob and I were sent to Alipore in case of a sneak raid
on Calcutta.
Peter Lee, Royal Air Force, Calcutta, 1943
(source: A2740394 176 Squadron RAF Nightfighters at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
War damage
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________
Bombs were dropped
on the dock area
A second daylight air raid took place at the beginning of the
year [1944]. Bombs were dropped on the dock area causing much damage and some
casualties.
Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, Calcutta, 1944
(source:page 111 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing 1989)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)
Overall Calcutta
got off lightly
Overall Calcutta got off lightly. We suffered no hardships
compared to other theatres of war. The
tea and mah-jong parties continued with a variety of home backed cakes gracing
the table. […] We were short of certain
consumer goods. The days when we could
pick and choose dress materials in the market were over. I remember buying
material sold for curtains in Hall & Anderson and having a presentable
dress made.
Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, Calcutta, mid 1940s
(source:page 111 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing 1989)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)
Blast Walls
You asked, "Did you see any war damage in Calcutta?
No, I saw nothing that I could attribute to war action. The only reminders that a war was going on were the "blast walls" by the front doors of a number of Chowringee businesses. Those walls and hundreds of troops with uniforms of many nations walking the streets.
[The] blast walls [were] erected of brick on streets in front of Calcutta, ground-level businesses. They appear to be unattached walls standing on sidewalks in front of stores. They were supposed to provide a measure of protection from shrapnel during a potential Japanese bomb attack. I experienced no Japanese military action against Calcutta while I was there, but I understand the walls were built when there was good reason to expect an enemy aerial attack on the city.
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home ● Sitemap ● Reference ● Last updated: 03-October-2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there
are any technical problems, factual inaccuracies or things you have to add,
then please contact the group
under info@calcutta1940s.org