Raid on the Forth

This research paper details the German air raid on British warships in the Firth of Forth on 16 October 1939 - the first German air raid on the United Kingdom during World War II. While this air raid has been documented over almost eight decades, in many areas fact gives way to non-fact. The paper utilises primary source documentation and, secondary source materials to separate that fact from non-fact. The paper details, in turn, the context surrounding the German air operation, the Operation itself and British operation to counter the air raid and details the material damage inflicted on the warships themselves. The paper also puts forward answers to a number of disputed questions, including the location of one of the ships that was bombed - the air raid actually targeting two separate points some 30 miles apart rather than a single raid on the anchorage off Rosyth as has ubiquitously gone down in history. The paper concludes with an assessment of the strategic aftermath of the raid, which was part of a concerted German campaign that had a profound effect on British defensive policy.