'Mystery' of Blitz report classified for 100 years

A decision to embargo a report on the bombing of Hull until 2042 is "unjustifiable", an MP has said.

Dame Diana Johnson wrote to the National Archives (NA) earlier this month to ask why the study – into the impact of German attacks on the city during World War Two – had never been released.

The NA has now confirmed that the report is under wraps for 100 years and said it was looking into the questions raised by the MP.

Prof David Atkinson, an expert on the Hull Blitz, said the report was likely to have contained sensitive information when written, but why the embargo had not been lifted after more than 80 years was a mystery.

In total, about 1,200 people were killed during German bombing raids on Hull, with 3,000 injured and more than 150,000 made homeless.

Dame Diana said: "The rate of death and destruction in Hull from Nazi bombs in the Blitz was comparable with that in London, but Hull's suffering was never recognised nationally in those wartime years when we were just referred to as a 'north east coastal town'.

"Hull seems to have been the only town or city treated in this way. An explanation as to why this happened is long overdue, after already being withheld for over 80 years.

"It's unjustifiable for information about these events to be kept locked away for 17 more years."

Dame Diana has promised to pursue the matter along with colleagues from the University of Hull.

Prof Atkinson, from the university, has researched how the wartime government established secretive surveys in the city to assess how people "got by beneath the bombs".

He said the embargoed report could reveal how effective the developing technology of aerial warfare was – and how much aerial bombing it would take to defeat a city.

Such sensitive information was kept secret during the war.

"I think the government at the time was worried about how disclosing the report might reveal to the Germans that the citizens of Hull were resilient to aerial bombings," Prof Atkinson said.

A spokesperson for the National Archives said it had asked Dame Diana's office for clarification on some aspects of her letter.

However, they said records specialists were looking into the issues raised.

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