Operation crucible - Kieran Knowles

A story of four ordinary men in extraordinary times.

On the 12 December 1940, more than six hundred people lost their lives in over seven hours of continuous bombing by Germany's Luftwaffe. Their objective? Wiping Sheffield's world famous steel works - the heartland of Britain's munitions manufacturing - clean off the map. The ruthless attack left Sheffield in ruins ? destroying families, shattering a way of life, and changing the city forever.

At 11:44pm on the night of the raid, a single 500kg bomb reduced the Marples Hotel, which stood proudly in Fitzalan Square, from seven storeys to just fifteen feet of rubble. Only one of the ten compartments in the hotel's cellars withstood the blast. Within it, trapped, were four men. This is their story, from beginning to end.