The day the Luftwaffe targeted Spittlegate Bridge

The Up Goods line in the foreground, with the Up and Down Main Lines beyond. Photograph by Walter Lee © Lincolnshire County Council

These photographs, taken by local photographer Walter Lee, capture the aftermath of one of Grantham’s most significant wartime incidents.

On 23rd October 1940, at around 4pm, two high-explosive bombs struck Spittlegate Bridge, which carries the Great North Road over the East Coast Main Line on the southern approach into town.

The south side of Spittlegate bridge. The parapet has been blasted away, and the pavement over the main lines, on the right, is missing. Photograph by Walter Lee © Lincolnshire County Council

The bridge was no random target. Beneath the tarmac ran the pipes carrying Grantham’s principal water supply from the works at Saltersford, while the railway below was a critical artery for the war effort.

Looking towards the town showing the service pipes which had been beneath the pavement temporarily supported by ropes. Photographs by Walter Lee © Lincolnshire County Council

Grantham was firmly in the Luftwaffe’s sights. Between late 1940 and 1942, the town regularly received attention from German bombers, largely because of the BMARCo works on Springfield Road, which was producing 20mm cannon for Spitfires and Hurricanes. By 1943, that factory alone was fulfilling 46% of the UK’s demand for the Hispano-Suiza cannon.

On that October afternoon, the railway lines below the bridge were left obstructed with debris, and trains were held or diverted while engineers worked to clear the damage. Fortunately, most of the bridge remained intact, and traffic on both rail and road was soon restored to near-normal.

Source: Tracksthroughgrantham