Durning Road shelter, Edge Hill
29 November 1940 · Liverpool, Merseyside
View this record on the map →- Date
- 29 November 1940
- Record type
- Historic bombing site
- Bomb weight
- 1,000kg
- Casualties
- 166
- Location
- Liverpool, Merseyside
- Position accuracy
- Confirmed site, building-level
What happened
A parachute mine struck the Edge Hill Training College on Durning Road, collapsing the building onto around 300 people sheltering in its basement. Boiling water from ruptured heating boilers, escaping gas and fire compounded the disaster and hampered rescue.
Casualty note
National Museums Liverpool and the University of Liverpool both give 'at least 166'. The University notes the real toll may be higher, because the records of the night were overwhelmed.
Also worth knowing
Widely reported as the single worst civilian incident of the war in Britain, a description attributed to Churchill. The raid began on the night of 28 November; the mine fell in the early hours of the 29th, which is why sources differ on the date.