Roker Park & Sunderland Central Station
15-16 May 1943 · Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
View this record on the map →- Date
- 15-16 May 1943
- Record type
- Historic bombing area
- Bomb type
- HE
- Location
- Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
- Position accuracy
- Confirmed event, approximate point (Roker Park was demolished in 1997)
What happened
In Sunderland's worst night of the war a bomb cratered the Roker Park pitch near the players' tunnel and another struck the North Stand. The north end of Sunderland Central Station was severely damaged and St Thomas's Church destroyed.
Casualty note
75 killed, 82 seriously injured and 143 slightly hurt — a TOWN-WIDE total for the raid, initially reported as 71 and later revised up. Only one death is tied to Roker Park itself: a police officer patrolling the ground.
Also worth knowing
127 high-explosive bombs and 1,300 incendiaries fell, and a parachute mine destroyed the Empress Hotel. Two hundred houses were demolished and 10,000 damaged. Sources differ on the date — one local account gives 15-16 May, Wikipedia dates the two worst raids to 14 and 24 May 1943.