The important potential of Swansea's Port during a wartime situation had not escaped the attention of the British Government and local council. It was predicted that during a war Swansea would provide the ideal location for military-based industries and munitions manufacture, with the port supplying an important distribution centre for weapons and troops. Playing an essential role in Britain's war effort would, however, highlight Swansea as a strategic target for enemy attacks.

Following pre-war government guidelines in Civil Defense and the later Air Raid Precaution Act of 1937, Swansea Council undertook enormous steps to protect its population and valuable assets from the possible risk of attack. Plans were made to dig trenches and build communal shelters, as well as strengthen the town's fire brigade and emergency services. However, lacking any real sense of urgency, these precautionary steps progressed slowly and it was not until April 1939 that work started on the construction of 500 communal shelters within Swansea's most populated districts. Anderson-style domestic shelters were distributed for private homes from March 1939 onwards, but again, with the impression that there was no cause for immediate concern, the garden shelters were not dispensed with any kind of haste.

Just five months later, however, community priorities had changed immensely due to the outbreak of war in September 1939. With only 6,549 Anderson-style shelters distributed from the estimated 30,000 needed to protect Swansea's residents, desperate measures were needed to prepare and protect Swansea and its 167,000 inhabitants from possible enemy attacks. The Air Raid Precautions committee therefore took to requisitioning the cellars and basements of privately owned buildings for use as public shelters.

After this rush of activity to safeguard the lives of Swansea citizens there followed a period of confusion. Expecting air raids to begin swiftly after war broke out, the population began to question the council's decision to invest so much time and money on Air Raid Precautions. The German attacks on Britain had so far failed to stretch as far as Swansea and many began to call World War II a "Phoney War". Retrospectively, these 10 months of uncertainty were the proverbial 'lull before the storm', for as soon as German troops gained ground in France, during June 1940, Swansea found itself within the flight range of the German bombers.

The first air raid on Swansea was heralded by a golden flare which lit the sky ablaze at 3.30am on June 27 1940. Guided by this glow, the Luftwaffe easily found their target and dropped 10 High Explosives over the east side of Swansea. The residential area of Danygraig was rudely awakened to the realities of war as the bombs dropped amongst its streets. Although the raid caused some damage to properties, there were amazingly no casualties. Together with the fact that 4 of the bombs which had fallen upon Kilvey Hill failed to explode, this initial attack was relatively ineffectual, but it did succeed by striking real fear, shock and trepidation into the hearts of Swansea's civilians.

What followed for Swansea during the years of World War II was to test the very spirit of the people who struggled to continue life against the backdrop of conflict, bombs, terror, destruction and death. The lowest point came in February 1941 during what is commonly referred as 'The Three Nights' Blitz'. 'The Three Nights' Blitz' lasted for nearly 14 hours, killed 230 people, injured another 397, wiped out entire streets of residential houses, made 7,000 people homeless and left the town centre a terrifying inferno of total destruction.