Manchester Raid
On the night of 22 December 121 aircraft of Luftflotte 2, and 149 aircraft of Luftflotte 3, both based in Northern France, dropped 272 tons of high explosive and 1,032 canisters of incendiary bombs on Manchester. The next night 171 aircraft of Luftflotte 3 returned and dropped another 195 tons of high explosive and 893 incendiaries.
684 people died and many more were injured. Over thirty acres of city center Manchester were destroyed (some reports say ninety), Salford and Stretford were savaged as well. At one point there were 1300 major blazes, some combining, as at Piccadilly, to create a fire storm. Buildings were demolished to prevent the fire spreading.