Exeter Blitz

During World War Two, Exeter was blitzed in retaliation for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) bombing of Lubeck in northern Germany. The Lubeck raid made Hitler furious. He used Baedeker German travel guidebooks to select the most beautiful cities of England for revenge raids on Exeter, Bath, Canterbury, Norwich and York. These were called Baedeker Raids.

There were about 19 raids on Exeter resulting in 265 deaths and hundreds injured. The worst night of bombing was on 4th May 1942. Many of Exeter’s historic streets of beautiful medieval buildings, Georgian mansions, churches, banks, schools, libraries and shops, were totally destroyed or heavily damaged. Exeter was changed forever.

A German radio report delared, “Exeter was the jewel of the West…. We have destroyed that jewel, and the Luftwaffe will return to finish the job”