Ordnance Survey 1940s aerial photographs showing significant bomb damage caused by the Hull Blitz made available online

The National Library of Scotland has released maps of cities in England and Wales that were designated as priorities for post-war rebuilding, having held the Scottish equivalents since 2009.

Visitors to their website can zoom in on the aerial surveys and compare them with maps showing the cities as they look today.

Hull is the only Yorkshire settlement featured alongside cities such as Coventry, Liverpool and Portsmouth which suffered notoriously destructive air raids.

The Hull Blitz was concentrated on the docks, and in the photographs gaps in the rows of terraced housing where bomb sites had been cleared can clearly be seen. The comparison with the modern image shows other significant changes to the cityscape, including lost railway lines, the results of postwar slum clearance and extensive housebuilding and the transformation of the industrial wharves on the Humber.

The images were called ‘mosaics’ and were taken in the late 1940s. They were actually sold to the public until 1954, when Cold War security concerns led to them being withdrawn from sale.

The 1:1,250 scale chosen for the 16 cities provides excellent levels of detail, and Ordnance Survey undertook the project as a quick interim measure before proper mapping could commence to assist with reconstruction projects in the aftermath of World War Two.

It was the first time Ordnance Survey had used aircraft for mapping, with the RAF having previously carried out such work.

The mosaics were originally intended only for official use, but from 1948 copies were offered for sale to recoup costs, though they were never popular with customers. By 1950, key military installations such as airfields were being edited out.

To view the images of Hull, click here.

The Hull Blitz

After London, Hull was the most bombed British city in the war and over 90 per cent of the inner-city housing stock was damaged. Over 1,200 people were killed, most in raids that took place in the spring of 1941. Families living near the docks would take the bus to villages on the edge of the countryside, such as Hedon, and sleep in fields rather than risk the bombs.