Ghostly Swansea 'air raid siren' goes off in city bombed by the Nazis 75 years ago

Home Top

Watch the terrifying moment world's largest passenger plane lurches to one side as it battles high winds during dramatic landing
High school teen who defended a blind classmate who was being beaten by a bully is SUSPENDED and kicked off football team
Nursery staff 'encouraged' children to fight on camera as Texas mother launches court case
Couple recalls the stomach-churning moment they saw their waiter's spit in their soda...and the cops proved it was him with a DNA test
Saudi prince arrested on suspicion of a sex crime after neighbors claim they saw a bleeding woman screaming for help and trying to climb out of his LA compound
Revealed: How Hillary's right-hand woman Huma Abedin avoided disclosing her husband's business dealings after Clinton PERSONALLY signed off on employment deal
Ghost Adventures star killed his estranged wife, himself and her boyfriend after HE was abused for years by his diminutive spouse
Good luck in economy! Air India proposes world's longest non-stop flight - an 18-hour, 8,700mile marathon between Bengaluru and San Francisco
Revealed, the 10 best stress-busting foods - and the good news is chocolate's on the list!
Hunter who broke both legs in the wilderness wrote goodbye letter to his wife and kids then prepared for suicide - but he changed his mind and crawled for FOUR DAYS to safety
Baptist church members vote to FIRE pastor who kicked out a 103-year-old member after she disagreed with his services
Frat boy who told freshmen which girls to invite to parties, how to get them drunk and ranked them by hotness is expelled
Touching moment Pope Francis blesses girl, 17, in a wheelchair who is suffering from spina bifida and wants to be an actress
Pope Francis in the Big Apple: Pontiff kicks off whirlwind New York City visit with speech at the United Nations followed by visit to the 9/11 memorial and mass at Madison Square Garden
PIERS MORGAN: The Pope's right: America doesn't have to be a country driven by gun-toting, blood-thirsty, planet-destroying bigots
Michelle Obama wore a $2,300 dress to meet Pope Francis in Washington earlier this week despite his views on unbridled capitalism
Trump gets BOOED by the crowd as he turns up to see the Pope - after he rejected Francis' call for compassion on immigration
Justice Ginsburg appears to doze off as Pope Francis gives historic address to Congress - nine months after falling asleep during the State of the Union
'I'm gunna take my shoe off and throw it at his head': Hot mic catches woman making threats at Pope Francis moments before he walked into Congress
'There were bodies, just everywhere': Survivors describe the horrifying scene after duck boat hit a bus in Seattle and left four students dead and 52 injured
The terrifying cockroach robo-SPY that could soon perform reconnaissance missions for the Russian military
How your child's teddy could trigger food poisoning: 80% of cuddly toys harbour harmful bacteria - while one in four are contaminated with faeces
How Gestapo thugs waltzed into plum jobs after the war: Their horrors are well chronicled, but new book reveals a deeply shocking twist
Apple's iPhone 6s hits the high street: First customers - including a ROBOT - get their hands on the next-generation device

Investigation launched into the mysterious noise heard across Swansea
Residents in Townhill have described hearing sounds for more than a year
Compared to 'war or old factory siren' but some theories suggest train horn
Luftwaffe bombed Swansea for three full days in 1941, killing 230 people

Published: 10:31 EST, 23 September 2015 | Updated: 12:18 EST, 23 September 2015

507

View
comments

A ghostly sound of an air raid siren has been waking people in hundreds of homes in a city that was heavily bombed by the Nazis 75 years ago.

Noise abatement officials launched an investigation into the mysterious noise which has been heard more frequently across Swansea, South Wales, in recent months, but admit it cannot be traced.

Reports of the wailing sound have stretched back for more than a year, with many residents in area of Townhill comparing it to a 'war or old factory siren'.

Residents in Swansea (pictured is Swansea Bay and The Mumbles) have been woken up by a mysterious air raid siren noise

The strange sound, which has also been compared to an old factory alarm or air raid siren (file image), has been reportedly going on for more than a year

One mother, Debbie Leyshon, 46, said: 'Everyone around here has heard it around dawn and into the early morning. It sounds just like a siren you hear in the war films.

'It always sounds like it is away in the distance but loud enough to wake you up if you are a light sleeper.'

The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe for three straight days in the 1941 Swansea Blitz as the German's tried to cripple Britain's coal exports.

A total of 230 people were killed and more than 400 were injured, with the huge fires caused by bombed oil refineries visible 75 miles away.

The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe for three straight days in the 1941 Swansea Blitz as the German's tried to cripple Britain's coal export

A total of 230 people were killed and more than 400 were injured in the bombing, with the huge fires caused by bombed oil refineries visible 75 miles away

People have taken to social media to share their own experiences of the strange noises.

Stella Elphick said: 'Been going on for at least the last two summers and through the winter. Day and night.'

THE SWANSEA BLITZ: 72 HOURS OF BOMBING IN WALES' MOST INTENSE ATTACK BY LUFTWAFFE

The Swansea Blitz was the most intense attack in Wales during the Second World War as the Luftwaffe bombed the city for 72 hours straight.

The raids began on the 19th and lasted until February 21st 1941, killing a total of 230 people - 37 of them children - and injuring more than 400.

The Luftwaffe unleashed 1273 high explosive bombs and 56,000 incendiary devices to devastate an area of 41 acres using target maps based on aerial reconnaissance photographs. 857 properties were destroyed and 11,000 properties were damaged.

Some of Swansea’s oldest buildings - the castle, Swansea museum, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery survived but the town’s commercial heart was razed, with the Ben Evans store, which seemed to have supplied everyone with everything for upward of fifty years, was flattened.

The belief that Wales was too far west to be of interest to German bombers was unfounded, with its docks and industrial works making it a clear target.

Pete Rose added: 'It drives my mother insane and I often hear it when visiting her,' while Damian Holt said: 'Every morning around 4.30/5am till 6am or 7am most mornings.'

Debbie St Peter claims the noise has become so 'annoying' that she can't sleep.

And Sian Richards said: 'That noise has been tormenting me since the beginning of year.'

There are a variety of theories as to what it is and where it is coming from, such as old factories or an end of shift siren from the council depot.

Some have said it is coming from a pub while others say it is coming from the Cwmdu Industrial Estate. Another suggested it was trains sounding their horn as they pass through a tunnel.

Another theory is that it is a fog siren coming from the lighthouse a The Mumbles, but so far no definite source has been pinpointed.

Swansea Council says it is looking into the sounds and is appealing for anyone who may have heard it and have information to come forward.

A spokesman for the authority said yesterday: 'Investigations into a possible source are on-going, but we'd still ask members of the public to contact our noise pollution team if they have any information that could be helpful.'