Why was crewe bombed?

Answer 1

Further to earlier answers, I was born in Crewe in November 1939 just after the start of WW2, and remember my mother later describing the nightly air raids by the Luftwaffe. Their bombers would be at the limit of their fuel range after a hazardous journey from Germany and later France, an indication of the risks Hitler was prepared to take in men and machines to bomb this small Cheshire town.

He had two objectives, the marshalling yards at this nationally-important rail junction, where hits would have disrupted the movement of vital war supplies including troops. However, such disruption would have been short-lived

The Nazis' main objective was the Rolls Royce factory, where the Merlin engines were being developed that gave the British Spitfire and Hurricane fighters their sparkling performance, out-accelerating the German Messerchmitt.

Historians generally agree that Hitler would have invaded Britain had it not been for the performance of these fighters in the Battle of Britain, effectively stopping the Nazi leader in his tracks.

It follows that a direct hit on Rolls Royce would, with hindsight, have changed the course of the war. And on a personal level I, living nearby, might not be here to tell the tale.

Possibly to correct an earlier answer which referred to Rolls Royce making weapons - I think not. Just brilliant engines without which I would have grown up speaking German!