‘Butterfly bomb’ lodged in a hedge c1943.

An original, glass-mounted positive used for training purposes during WW2.

On the night of 13th June 1943, the Luftwaffe dropped thousands of ‘butterfly bombs’ on Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Scores of people were killed and hundreds injured. In an attempt to keep the enemy unaware of the success of this new type of anti-personnel device, to lower the chances of repeat attacks elsewhere, reporting restrictions were applied. To this day, the story of the chaos and destruction in the Grimsby area is not well-known outside Lincolnshire.