AN eccentric Youtuber has explored the York Blitz in the next episode of her 'Horrible Histories meets BBC 2' style documentary series.

Catherine Warr, who founded the 'Yorkshire's Hidden History' channel in 2018, is a local history lover putting unheard stories of the North on the world stage.

The 22-year-old first discovered history on family days out to museums and historic castles and now dreams of becoming a TV historian.

After joining a historical reenactment group, Catherine started collecting different costumes and accessories which she uses for filming.

Her videos, inspired by Bolton's Fred Dibnah, have proved popular with people across the globe with Catherine being watched on phone screen's in Canada, America, and across Europe.

Under one recent video, a viewer wrote: "As an American you've singlehandedly made me interested in Yorkshire culture and history."

In the latest instalment of her ongoing series, she took viewers back in time to the early hours of April 29, 1942, when York was bombed alongside other cathedral cities like Bath and Norwich in the Baedecker raids.

The Germans conducted the mission as revenge for the British raids on picturesque Lubeck and Rostock.

York Press: A house in Bootham damaged by the bombingA house in Bootham damaged by the bombing

Despite having some defences, Catherine tells how the city had largely been "considered so safe" that children were evacuated to York - it wasn't a "blasé attitude" but a "calculation" that it was unlikely to be as much of a military target in terms of its industrial value. Sheffield held much more value, the historian explains.

The attack saw the deaths of 94 men, women and children in the city and its suburbs with some left so badly injured they were later to die. A further 15 British military personnel died in the raid, as did six German airmen.

What she found interesting is that despite the Government promising that victims would be remembered, their stories were mostly lost in the sands of time. Just two people are memorialised in the city - one for heroic York Station foreman William Milner who was killed while trying to obtain a box of medical supplies needed to treat casualties and another for free French fighter pilot P/O Yves Mahé.

"It goes a long way into explaining why a lot of people never even knew there was a York Blitz," she told the Press.

"That's my aim - the whole reason I make my videos is because there's topics which you just don't know about. If I say something people across the world can hear it.

"I specifically try and do things I don't see talked about that much because I like being able to teach someone something new."

Discussing the way she creates mini documentaries, she said: "The three things I describe them as being are bite-sized so you're not sitting down for an hour watching a documentary; they're easy to understand, I try to break down things to make them quite simple for people and they're entertaining. People just want to be entertained."

The video has received a huge response from York residents with stories passed down generations and people across the globe.

One viewer shared how his mother had been working in York Station when the bombs fell. She reportedly gave her big LNER coat to an injured Canadian airman.

"I was quite surprised to be honest but it's good because it gets people to share their stories," she said.

You can find Catherine's videos on Youtube by searching for 'Yorkshire's Hidden History'.