Ralph Burrows (41)

David Needham notes ‘The attack began on Manchester just after 19.30 (on 22nd December, 1940) and continued until 06.55 the next morning. Many of the 270 aircraft taking part in the raid were guided to the general area by the glow of fires still burning in Liverpool from the raids of the previous two nights. The aircraft dropped 272 tonnes of high explosive bombs and 37,152 incendiaries on Manchester. The bombing was mainly on the west side of the city, the docks and industrial areas, with Trafford Park being particularly badly affected. The firemen had an insurmountable task to control over 400 fires that were consuming entire blocks of buildings… the sheer size of the job meant that most of the fires were still burning the next day. Three Nottinghamshire firemen from Kirkby in Ashfield – Raymond Burrows, Alan Day and Joe Wright - were killed during the raid.’ (Battle of the Flames, p.55) Raymond Burrows died in Parker Street, Piccadilly.

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