This report is from The Scotsman dated 20th December 1940. Bearing in mind That the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was in full force, I still find this disconcerting.
It is riddled with falsehoods and is in effect, a propaganda exercise on behalf of the local and national authorities.
By the time the official statement was issued, the authorities would have had an accurate estimate of the casualties which were 602 fatalities, 513 seriously injured and 1058 minor injuries. The so called "fantastic rumours were not exaggerated - it was one of the worst air raids inn all of the Second World War and Sheffield suffered.
This report was purely for Nazi consumption but I wonder what effect this would have had on civilian morale now that 40000 people in the city were homeless. It may have been more appropriate not to have issued a statement that bore no relation to the facts.
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