SEVENTY-five years ago this week the Second World War came to Altrincham with a vengeance.

Almost a year after the war started, the 'Altrincham Blitz' began with devastating air raids over two successive nights on August 28 and 29.

The German bombers caused widespread damage with 53 houses destroyed, 250 people made homeless and a dramatic oil tank fire in Broadheath.

One of the RAF's largest munitions sites was located just 800 yards away from the bombed oil tank - but fortunately this was not hit in the raid.

As well as the munitions site, the concentration of factories in the Broadheath Industrial Estate made Altrincham a target for the Luftwaffe.

Miraculously, no-one was killed in the attacks, which were the first of a series of air raids on the area that took place over the following 14 months up to October 1941.

Now, local historian George Cogswell has revealed the impact the raids had on the area in a booklet, 'The Altrincham blitz, 1940 - 1941'.

He said: "While the Manchester Blitz is well recorded and widely known about, less so is the Altrincham Blitz.

The first major air raid on altrincham - which became known as the Oil Tank Raid - began with a warning siren at 10.39pm on August 28.

Shortly afterwards, a bomb hit one of three 25 foot high oil storage tanks at O'Brien's Oil Storage Depot, on Wharf Road, Broadheath, adjacent to the Bridgewater Canal.

The bomb exploded inside one of the tanks and ignited the oil.

Firefighters struggled through the night to extinguish the blaze, using water from the Bridgewater Canal.

It was imperative it was extinguished as it would provide a target if the bombers returned - which they did the following night.

It was finally extinguished at about 4.30pm, the next day by using metal tubes with hooked over ends, that were hooked over the top of the burning tank with the foam hoses attached. Within 30 minutes, the blanket of foam had put out the blaze.

There was also extensive damage in the Bold Street/Byrom Street area of Altrincham, with seven houses destroyed.

In Byrom Street, there was a direct hit on house number 115, on the corner with Bath Street. Four houses - 111 to 117 - were totally destroyed. The site of the four wrecked houses has now been turned into a covered car parking area.

There were no casualties, with a child being rescued form one of the houses.

Three other houses in Byrom Street were also destroyed by another bomb. In this incident, two small girls had a narrow escape, when the bomb landed in a back bedroom where they were in bed, but they were unharmed.

Other residents who were in the house were also lucky to escape unscathed - the girls' mother and brother and, living next door, their two aunts, grandfather and a cousin.

In a later report in the Altrincham Guardian, the family was named as the Naylors. In the report, Brian Naylor, who was 17 at the time,told how he and his mother, who was pregnant, and sisters got out of the house and spent the night at Hale Cinema.

In neighbouring Bold Street, a bomb fell onto the front garden of a house, badly damaging three houses. There were three casualties.

Other buildings damaged in the raids were:

* A house on King Street, Altrincham, demolished. There were four casualties.

* On Ashley Road, Hale - a bomb hit a shed behind Weetmans decorating shop. Neighbouring properties had to be evacuated.

*Two houses partly demolished on Kelsall Drive, Timperley.

*The occupants of a house on Aimson Place, Timperley, had a lucky escape when an unexploded bomb came through the roof, passing through to the ground floor. There were no casualties.

The next major raids on Altrincham came between December 22-24.

The attacks on December 23 had devastating consequences, when a bomb bell on the corner of Oakfield Road and Moss lane, Altrincham. It destroyed six houses and killed 12 people.