Editing Bootle (section)

===Second World War===
The docks made Bootle a target for [[Nazi German]] [[Luftwaffe]] bombers during the [[Liverpool Blitz]] of the [[Second World War]], with approximately 90% of the houses in the town damaged.<ref>{{Cite web
   | title = Liverpool Blitz: Buildings damaged in the May Blitz
   | url = http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/blitz/0500_info.html
   | publisher = Liverpool Museums
   | access-date = 9 November 2007
   | url-status = dead
   | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091707/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/blitz/0500_info.html
   | archive-date = 29 September 2007
   | df = dmy-all
   }}
</ref>
Situated immediately adjoining the city of Liverpool, and the site of numerous docks, Bootle had the distinction of being the most heavily bombed borough in the UK,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/liverpool-blitz/liverpool-blitz-stories/2011/05/03/50-bombs-dropped-on-bootle-as-adolf-hitler-attacked-town-100252-28601102/|title=50 bombs dropped on Bootle as Adolf Hitler attacked town|work=Liverpool Echo|date=3 May 2011|access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/Historical/blitzCronology2.htm|title=Blitz Chronology|work=Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service|access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref> with 458 civilian deaths from enemy action recorded within the borough.<ref>{{cite web|last=CWGC|title=Civilian War Dead, Bootle County Borough|url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/4004222/bootle-county-borough/|website=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]|access-date=2023-10-06}}</ref> Bootle played an important role in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/26/a1135126.shtml |title=People's War: Bombed Out in Bootle and Evacuated|publisher=BBC}}</ref> 

[[Royal Navy]]'s Captain [[Frederic John Walker]], the famous [[U-boat]] hunter, would rest in the Mayor's Parlour of Bootle Town Hall and his ships, [[HMS Stork (L81)|HMS ''Stork'']] and [[HMS Starling (U66)|HMS ''Starling'']], sailed out of [[Gladstone Dock]] Bootle. Memorabilia associated with Walker including the ships's bell from HMS ''Starling'' which was presented to Bootle County Borough Council on 21 October 1964 by Admiral Sir [[Nigel Henderson]] Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/sefton-celebrate-spirit-johnnie-walker-12157692|title=Sefton to celebrate the spirit of Johnnie Walker by offering HMS Mersey freedom of the borough|date=11 November 2016|publisher=Liverpool Echo|access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://postimg.cc/ZvyVkfVC |title=Worth its Weight in Solid Silver|date=19 December 1969|publisher=Bootle Times Herald| access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> can be viewed in [[Bootle Town Hall]].