Remember the first civilian casualties of war in Scotland

Edinburgh may not have been repeatedly bombed like London or Clydebank but it still experienced multiple raids which killed men, women and children.

This is today's column, I've written for The Scotsman, published 13th May 2025.

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, we should not forget that, in the East of Scotland, perhaps our greatest trial came years earlier. For, at the start of the war, Edinburgh and Leith found themselves on the front line.

The notion that Britain was totally unprepared for war is a myth. In fact, planning for the defence of the civilian population had been ongoing since the mid-1930s.

It was believed, with some justification, that the oncoming war would not be fought by vast armies but by bombing the population into submission. The Spanish Civil War and the use of gas in Abyssinia, modern-day Ethiopia, had provided a horrific template. From 1937, everyone was equipped with a gas mask – even tiny babies had respirators.

At the outbreak of war, anyone who could read a map could see the east of Scotland was a juicy target with the wide Forth Estuary leading to the naval base at Rosyth, the Forth Bridge and the busy Leith Docks all within range of German bombers flying from their bases on the Frisian Islands.

But if the threat was great, the preparations for our defence were also extensive. Led and coordinated by the young Edinburgh Assistant Chief Constable Robert Thomson, the police, special constabulary, fire service, ambulance, air-raid wardens, and salvage squads were integrated into a civil defence system. An elaborate system of air-raid warnings was introduced and a blackout regime rigorously enforced.

Dozens of new anti-aircraft guns were also positioned around the Forth, with two squadrons of brand new Spitfires stationed nearby.

Even now, looking back, it was an impressive system of defence but ACC Thomson did not live to see his plan come to fruition. Tragically, this brilliant young officer was fatally wounded in a mistaken identity shooting by a drunken sentry in the summer of 1940, the most senior British police officer killed during the war.

But by the time of his death, he would have known that all his work had been necessary, for the war came early to Edinburgh. On October 16, 1939, a daytime German attack on naval ships in the Forth saw shrapnel and machine gun bullets peppering the streets of Edinburgh, leading to the first civilian casualties of the war.

The air defences proved effective and, after losing three aircraft, the German Luftwaffe never returned to bomb Edinburgh during the day, instead coming intermittently by night.

Stood the test

Edinburgh was not blitzed like London or Clydebank but, over the next three years, 15 raids brought terror to ordinary folk. From Leith Docks to Holyrood Palace and the zoo to residential streets in Granton and Craigentinny, attacks killed men, women and children.

In the first three years of the war, at least 20 people died when Edinburgh and Leith were bombed.*

However, throughout it all, the people of the city simply carried on, with no discernible signs of panic or despair. There is no memorial to the victims of those deadly raids but, at this time of remembrance, we should still celebrate our fellow citizens who were tried but stood the test 85 years ago.

Tom Wood is a writer and former police officer. His latest book, The Bombing of Edinburgh & Leith 1939-42, is published by Ringwood Publishing.