23 Nov 1940  German Luftwaffe Commences Main Air Raid on English
City of Southampton  Southampton Blitz The Second World War hit
Southampton particularly hard. Pockets of Georgian architecture
remain, but much of the city was leveled during the Blitz of
November 1940. 476 tons of bombs were dropped on the city by the
Luftwaffe.  Southampton was a prime target because of its
general strategic importance as a major port and industrial
area, and particularly because the Supermarine Spitfire was
designed, developed and built in Southampton.  On 24 September
1940, the Supermarine factory in Woolston was bombed, killing
many, though not damaging the factory. Two days later, the
factory was destroyed. After the air raid Nazi propaganda
declared that the town had been left a smoking ruin.  On 6
November 1940, during a raid on the town centre, three bombs hit
the School of Art in the Civic Centre, (now known as the Art
Gallery), killing students that were sheltering in the basement.
The main blitz, a series of sustai