Like many people my age, I grew up listening to my grandmothers talking about their experiences in Glasgow in the Second World War. In 1941 my maternal grandma Greta McLean was 14 and working in a ball bearing factory in Stronend Street, Possilpark making parts for tanks. In the same year, my paternal grandma Frances Byrne was a wee bit younger, 11 years old and a pupil at St Mary’s school in Kilmun St, Maryhill.
After what I could only describe as a misspent youth in Glasgow, I eventually met my wife and moved to the US for over a decade. After moving back to Glasgow with my family I decided I wanted to go to university and set about finding a path. As History and Archaeology were two things I loved, I enrolled in the master’s program at the University of Glasgow studying Conflict Archaeology. My thesis was on the heavy anti-aircraft defences around Glasgow in WWII. While researching this topic, I discovered the Mitchell Library archives and particularly the treasure trove of reports of enemy actions over the city of Glasgow in WWII. This led me to a PhD researching the Luftwaffe attacks on Glasgow in WWII. A very enjoyable experience, but sadly my PhD became a victim of the Covid pandemic in 2020. However, having amassed thousands of documents on this topic, I wanted my discoveries to be known.
My endeavour is not to rewrite the stories but to put them in their historical and strategic context. To this avail I hope to constantly be updating this website and the maps with information and photos as I come across them. I hope that this will become a resource to anyone who wishes to use it and inspire them to do their own research in the future.
Regards
Marc Patrick Conaghan