SOLOMON BELINSKI

During the early hours of 15^th March 1941 the City of Leeds was subjected to a German air raid.  Whilst fire fighting in Park Row, Leeds, Fireman Belinski incurred injuries resulting from a direct bomb hit and died 1^st April 1941.

Leeds in the Blitz 1941

“We have not forgotten you Leeds in your sleepy little valley”. These were the words of the traitor Lord Haw Haw in one of his propaganda broadcasts.
His prediction became reality on 14th March 1941 when an estimated 40 planes took part in a raid on the city.
The alert sounded at 2100 hours followed by a period of comparative quiet, broken only by the sound of occasional aircraft flying over.
More than 4,000 Air Raid Wardens were on duty that night and from 23.40pm that night they had their hands full dealing with a mixture of incendiaries and explosive bombs landing throughout the area.
The Town Hall and City Museum were both hit as well as a number of other commercial buildings, schools and industrial sites.
During the attack on the Museum, firefighters attended including Frank Thomas and Solomon Belinski. Whilst they were both on ladders, a second bomb hit the building and Solomon sustained life threatening injuries and later died. Frank survived by the grace of God.

Photo Frank Thomas