It was around 10.13pm on Saturday August 31, 1940, when the first of 116 bombs began to fall on Bradford city centre.

By the time the German aeroplanes were finished at 3.14am, one woman lay dead and another 127 people were injured, with some of Bradford's highest profile buildings reduced to rubble.

The bomb which ploughed through the roof of the Odeon cinema in Manchester Road hit the stalls with such impact it sent chairs flying into the circle.

In one of many examples of good fortune which kept the casualty tally so low, the last movie-goers had left only minutes before the building was hit and ravaged by fire.

Lingard's department store in Westgate, meanwhile, was one of the worst hit -- completely gutted by an incendiary missile. The resulting fire in the store sent flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air -- and was visible from miles around.

That bomb was also the cause of the only fatality of the four-hour raid -- 47-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Lund, of St Michael's Road, off White Abbey Road, was taken to St Luke's Hospital after being caught in the blast but died from her injuries. With the war going so ominously in Hitler's favour, the Government had imposed strong censorship rules on newspaper reports of raids, effectively suppressing all but the most general details.

Monday morning's edition of the Telegraph & Argus' sister paper the Yorkshire Observer could only state that "a chain-raid on a north eastern town by Nazi planes caused considerable damage to property in or near the central area."

The report added, in language which could have come straight from the Ministry of Information, that: "Having regard to the severity and continuity of the bombing the casualty roll is insignificant."

A total of 1,050 Bradfordians were evacuated from their homes because of unexploded bombs or building damage, but most of those hurt suffered only slight cuts from flying glass.

Considering that 46 bombing incidents were reported across the city and 11 separate fires had raged, it is no exaggeration to say the population had a miraculous escape.

Newlyweds Cyril and Ivy Fiedler were celebrating their wedding night when a 250lb bomb landed in the cobbled street outside their home in Tyersal.

The blast blew their windows and doors out, ripped the ceiling off their bedroom and embedded shards of glass into the living room wall.

Luckily, the couple had taken refuge in the cellar of Mr Fiedler's brother's house and escaped injury. But they spent their special night wondering if the next bomb they heard falling would be for them.

The couple stuck by their unfortunate house in Beverley Street, and after repairs moved back in and went on to celebrate their golden wedding in it.

Bradford schools and churches did not escape the destruction, with Wapping School, off Bolton Road, suffering a direct hit and St Peter's RC Church in Leeds Road and Kirkgate Chapel also badly damaged.

Other high-profile strikes included that on a wool warehouse in Nelson Street, which sparked a major blaze, while residents in Laisterdyke took a pummeling.

A high-explosive bomb landed in the middle of Tyrell Street and snapped tramlines, but amazingly, didn't injure anyone waiting to get to Great Horton, Queensbury or Wibsey.

In Sunday's aftermath the affected areas were sealed off by the Home Guard and soldiers as the clean-up operation, and the defusing of unexploded bombs, began.

The city suffered an even heavier bombardment on March 14, 1941, but while that raid saw nearly 600 bombs dropped, damage and casualties were slight.

Bradford suffered its worst casualties of the war on Sunday, May 4, 1941 when an enemy bomber smashed into a row of houses in Idle High Street, killing three people and injuring five others.