ON this very day 80 years ago Barrovians had spent the night hiding in shelters for almost eight terrifying hours after an aerial attack.

From 9.57pm on Tuesday April 15 in 1941 to 5.35am the following day, bombs fell on the town centre, killing 20 people.

Bombing during mid-April 1941 caused significant damage to a central portion of Abbey Road, completely destroying the Waverley Hotel as well as Christ Church and Abbey Road Baptist Church.

Among the dead was Baptist Minister Gilbert Mason, bravely trying to protect his Abbey Road church as a fire watcher.

He would have been armed with a tin hat, stirrup pump and a bucket of sand to deal with incendiary bombs.

Union Street bore the brunt of the attack and among buildings damaged was the Evening Mail offices in Abbey Road.

While the majority of Cumbria remained largely safe from German attack, around a quarter of the houses in Barrow were damaged or destroyed by German bombing during the Barrow Blitz that took place during April and May 1941.

Martin Cooper, minister at Abbey Road Baptist Church, said the service will pay tribute to Baptist Minster Gilbert Mason on Sunday.

He said: "Reverend Mason wasn't actually meant to be on fire watch duty that night - he stood in for someone else who couldn't be there.

"From that night, the church spent the next ten years sharing buildings with other churches until a new building, the one we have today, was built in the mid-1950s.

"On Sunday, I plan on giving thanks to the people who lost their lives that night and others who have served the church faithfully and enabled us to be here today.

"We have a community table in the church dedicated to Revd Mason and still have some items in the church from the old church which was bombed like the communion tray and the hymn board."

The Barrow Blitz saw 83 civilians killed, 330 injured, and more than 10,000 houses damaged or destroyed.

Wartime reporting restrictions prevented the newspaper from identifying Barrow as the target for the bombers.

The April 16 edition noted: “A North-West coastal town raided recently, was again visited by enemy aircraft last night and early today.

“The loss of life is not heavy, but seven bodies have been recovered and a number of persons are still unaccounted for.

“Damage was done to two cinemas, a hotel, a church, which was completely wrecked, a political club and a school.

“A number of dwelling houses were wrecked in a working class district and neighbouring premises suffered from blast and minor damage.

“Among the bodies recovered was that of a minister who was fire watching at the church when the building collapsed.

“A member of the congregation who was with him was also recovered from the debris.

“The dead also included two visitors from County Down.

“The raid was a long one and many people spent the night in their shelters.

“There was considerable air activity and intense fire from ground defences.

“During today rescue work proceeded, excellent services being rendered by the ARP, Home Guard, police and others."