In the line of fire – the secret map that marked Sheffield steelworks as a wartime bomb target

A map held by the Sheffield City Archives details a planned attack on the Woodhouse & Rixson steelworks in the city’s industrial east end, with the factory, on Bessemer Road, Attercliffe, clearly identified by Hitler’s henchmen.

Marked ''Geheim!'' – ‘secret’ in English – the map and its associated documents came to light when an office in Germany was cleared out and they were deposited at the archives in 2008.

Researchers at the facility on Shoreham Street have revisited the map in the run-up to the 75th anniversary of VE Day on May 8 which, in 1945, was the day on which Allied forces announced the surrender of Germany in Europe.

The Blitz bombings took place on December 12 and 15, 1940, part of a series of attacks on major cities around Britain. Steelworks were targeted as they were used to make vital items such as shells and armour plating – ultimately the raids failed to halt production of munitions, but bombs were also dropped miles away from the factories of Brightside and Tinsley, in suburbs such as Woodseats and Millhouses, suggestive of a more widespread terror campaign.

Bomb sites remained in Sheffield for up to 20 years in some places.

Atkinsons department store was reduced to rubble along with most of The Moor shopping area and wasn’t rebuilt until 1960, while around 70 people were killed at The Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square.

The stoic conduct of Sheffield residents in the Blitz was held up as an example by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a 1942 Ministry of Information booklet.

The Sheffield City Archives are closed to the public to help enforce social distancing measures during the lockdown period.

However, the building’s staff have still been taking part in the annual #Archive30 challenge, which involves archivists posting on Twitter about a new topic each day throughout the month of April.