21st Aug 1940 Bombing Cavendish Rd/Saffron Hill Road

[Ann S]

Was this date the FIRST bombing of Leicester.  We are trying to put a plaque up to register the deaths of the six people who died and are buried in Saffron Cemetery.

It has been said that the bombing was the first on the City  can anyone help please?

[Clive Cartwright]

Yes, that was the first raid on the city.
A number of books state this, and I’ll list them below for further reference: 


“Tested by Bomb and Flame: Leicester versus Luftwaffe Air Raids 1939-1945” by Austin J. Ruddy.
“But for These Things - Leicester and its People in WWII” by Vincent Holyoak
“Birds Eye Wartime Leicestershire 1939-1945: Maps and Aerial Photographs: A Synoptic View of Wartime Leicestershire” by Terence Clive Cartwright
“Birds Eye Wartime Leicester 1939-1945: A Synoptic View of Wartime Leicester” by Terence Clive Cartwright
“Wartime Leicester” by Ben Beazley
And
“The Blitz Then and Now - Volume 2” by Winston G. Ramsey


To list but a few.

[John254]

The first book on that list gives an excellent account of the event, along with photographs of the affected houses. The book is available from Leicester Libraries.