Did RAF deliberately bomb the Baedeker publishing house during war?

• Is there a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here?
• Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; or email [email protected] 

QUESTION Did the RAF deliberately bomb the Baedeker publishing house during the war?

On the night of December 3, 1943, the RAF carried out an attack on Leipzig in which the warehouse used to store the Baedeker company’s stock — along with large parts of the ancient German city — was destroyed, forcing the company out of business. The firm was re-established almost from scratch in 1948.

Dietrich Baedeker, born in Bremen in 1660, became a printer in Bielefeld but it was his descendent, Karl Baedeker, who established the publishing firm proper in 1827.

Karl, seeing the increasing popularity of travel among the rich and the advent of the railways, identified a market for books that would advise people on where to go and what to see.

While Baedeker publishing was not a specific target for the bombing, it was thought at the time that the Luftwaffe was selecting targets in the UK from the guidebooks published by the company.

These raids became known as the Baedeker Blitz and started during 1942.

The first Baedeker raid is thought to be the one carried out on Exeter on several nights between April 23 and May 4 of that year.

This was believed to be retaliation for the RAF bombing of some historic German cities, including Lubeck and Rostock on the Baltic coast.

These raids became known as the Baedeker Blitz and started during 1942. Pictured: Damage in Canterbury sustained by bombing

The first Baedeker raid is thought to be the one carried out on Exeter on several nights between April 23 and May 4 of that year. Pictured: Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941

Fires devastated Exeter’s shopping centre and in total the raids left 163 people dead and 131 badly injured.

However, as Exeter was also, at that time, a port city, that was initially considered to be the motive for the bombing.

Other raids on historic cities followed, including Bath, Norwich, Hull, Lincoln, Cowes, Grimsby, York and Canterbury.

While some of those towns and cities, such as Hull and Grimsby, may be thought of as legitimate military targets because of their port facilities, it is harder to make a case for Norwich, Canterbury and York.

What strengthened the argument that Britain’s cultural heritage was under attack was that many of the bombs landed in areas of cultural significance.

Several ancient cathedrals were damaged as well as notable historic buildings including Bath’s Assembly Rooms and the 15th-century Guildhall in York.

All were some distance from any target that might have been considered of military importance.

Bob Cubitt, Northampton.

QUESTION Why are trainers sometimes called sneakers?

The notion of rubber-soled shoes being called ‘sneaks’ because one could creep about quietly in them can be found in 19th-century Britain: ‘The night-officer is generally accustomed to wear a species of India-rubber shoes or goloshes on her feet. These are termed ‘sneaks’ by the women [of Brixton Prison]’ (Female Life In Prison, 1862).

But, generally, ‘sneakers’ is very much an American term.

From 1868, when the flat-soled rubber-and-canvas shoe was introduced, there were various references to sneaks and sneakers.

Called Keds, they had a canvas upper with rubber soles, which made them stealthy or quiet. Pictured: Keds vintage inspired collection in 2021

However, the specific use of the term is credited to Henry Nelson McKinney, an advertising agent for N. W. Ayer & Son, for an advertising campaign on behalf of the U.S. Rubber Company, which mass-marketed the first sneakers in 1917.

Called Keds, they had a canvas upper with rubber soles, which made them stealthy or quiet.

Keds remain popular today.

Tom Delaney, Cirencester, Glos.

QUESTION Which actor has played the same character on stage the most times?

This record belongs to U.S. actress Catherine Russell who began playing Margaret Thorne Brent in Perfect Crime when it opened in New York City on April 18, 1987.

Warren Manzi’s play is a classic whodunnit and the longest-running play in NYC history.

It takes place in the home of a wealthy psychiatrist (Brent) who is accused of murdering her husband.

A handsome detective arrives on the scene who believes he has solved the case, but nothing is straightforward in what may be the ‘perfect crime’.

Perfect Crime today celebrates its 37th birthday and 14,717th performance at its current Off-Broadway home, the Anne L. Bernstein Theater in Times Square’s The Theater Center.

Russell has missed only four performances in all that time and established the Guinness World Record back in 2008.

Her closest rival was George Lee Andrews, who appeared in The Phantom Of The Opera on 9,382 occasions over a period of 23 years.

Part of the original Broadway cast of the show, he took over the role of Richard Firmin from 1990 to 2001 before switching roles with Jeff Keller and playing Gilles Andre until he left the show in 2011.

Jessie Whiteman, Manchester.

Read more