Edinburgh during WW2

[waiglet]

Apologies for my ignorance but can anyone tell me was Edinburgh bombed by the Germans during World War Two?

Thanks in advance

[jno]

don't think so. Zeppelins bombed it in WW1, I believe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/scotland onfilm/forum/newlife/thread8.shtml

[johnlambert]

Yes they did, edinburgh was considered a target for German bombers due to the lowering of public morale when the city was destroyed causing the British people to get the Govt to sue for an early peace, one one occasion they hit a whisky distilliary, which started a fire that lasted several days. My dad was 9 when the war started and he remembered it well, he also heard the German bombers flying over Edinburgh on their way to bomb the docks in Glasgow
The first contact between British + German forces took place over Edinburgh in the first days of the war, a spitfire which is now on display at Edinburgh's Turnhouse airport shot down a German aircraft, the German pilot spent the rest of the war as a POW in Edinbugh castle

[jno]

I stand corrected, johnlambert. Did this happen often?

[johnlambert]

not very often,
there are 2 castles in Edinburgh, the famous one, and another less famous on the outskirts called craigmillar castle, guess which one they tried to bomb? there was a lots of anti aircraft fire and it's thought that they released the bombs quickly so that they could get back to Germany. I thought it was part of Baedeker blitz HERE but I appear to be wrong, however in my defence in my first answer I neglected to mention that at that time Leith Docks in Edinburgh were the largest docks in Europe and most definatly would have been a target of stratiegic military importance,

[johnlambert]

And I forgot to take the bold print off after the number 2 sorry!!

[cambus]

Can't see the good people of Morningside putting up with that.

[MustafaTickl]

'ere are the blighters wot did it.

[heathfield]

The Forth Bridge was a target from the start. I remember being on a train with my parents, and it crossing the length of the bridge at a slow walking pace. There had been a raid by the Germans the night before. It was thought that a bomb might have lodged in the structure, and if that were the case, any excessive vibration could set it off - hence the slow pace of the train.

[paddywak]

Just been watching a documentary about the Fourth Bridge, It mentioned the attack on the bridge which resulted in the first German plane of the war being shot down