Manchester

===Blitz===
{{main|Manchester Blitz}}
Like most of the UK, the Manchester area was mobilised extensively during the [[Second World War]]. For example, casting and machining expertise at [[Beyer, Peacock & Company]]'s locomotive works in [[Gorton]] was switched to bomb making; [[Dunlop Rubber|Dunlop's]] rubber works in [[Chorlton-on-Medlock]] made [[barrage balloon]]s; and just outside the city in [[Trafford Park]], engineers [[Metropolitan-Vickers]] made [[Avro Manchester]] and [[Avro Lancaster]] bombers and [[Ford of Britain|Ford]] built the [[Rolls-Royce Merlin]] engines to power them. Manchester was thus the target of bombing by the [[Luftwaffe]], and by late 1940 air raids were taking place against non-military targets. The biggest took place during the [[Manchester Blitz|Christmas Blitz]] on the nights of 22/23 and 24 December 1940, when an estimated {{convert|467|long ton|t|order=flip}} of high explosives plus over 37,000 incendiary bombs were dropped. A large part of the historic city centre was destroyed, including 165 warehouses, 200 business premises, and 150 offices. 376 were killed and 30,000 houses were damaged.<ref>{{cite book | last= Hardy | first= Clive | title= Manchester at War | edition= 2nd | year= 2005 | location= Altrincham| isbn= 1-84547-096-6 | pages=75–99 | chapter= The blitz | publisher=First Edition Limited }}</ref> [[Manchester Cathedral]], [[Royal Exchange, Manchester|Royal Exchange]] and [[Free Trade Hall]] were among the buildings seriously damaged; restoration of the cathedral took 20 years.<ref name="WWII">{{cite web | website=Manchester Cathedral| url= http://www.manchestercathedral.org/history/timeline | title= Timeline | access-date= 5 May 2009 | publisher= Manchester Cathedral Online | year= 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160416153101/http://www.manchestercathedral.org/history/timeline | archive-date= 16 April 2016 | url-status= dead }}</ref> In total, 589 civilians were recorded to have died as result of enemy action within the Manchester County Borough.<ref>{{cite web|last=CWGC|title=Civilian War Dead, Manchester County Borough|url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/4004227/manchester-county-borough/|website=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]|access-date=2023-09-15}}</ref>