Living in the Blitz

Lest we forget
bermondseyboy
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Living in the Blitz

Postby bermondseyboy » Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:49 pm

This is a long posting but may be of interest to some of our members.
It tells of what our Bermondsey Boys and Girls went through.

Living in the Blitz

B0092-MSS-P2 bermondsey baths sand bags.jpg
Bermondsey Baths sand bags


Sandbags outside Bermondsey Central Baths, Grange Road, September 1939 (above); and the remains of the railway arch on Southwark Park Road in October 1944 (below right)
By Julia Shipperley
IN SEPTEMBER 1939, the first grim sign of war for the people of Bermondsey was the fitting and distribution of 78,000 gas masks, including masks for babies.

This, together with the ominous sounds of the air raid sirens, had a profoundly psychological effect on local residents. The real threat to the people of Bermondsey however, was discovered in 1940, when the bombs started to fall and the lack of adequate shelter was fully realised.

Bermondsey people had more reason to be concerned about sheltering from the bombs than other Londoners. The nature of the ground in Bermondsey meant a lot of waterlogged soil prevented the construction of the deep shelters required to give protection against the bombs. As it was the home of some of London’s busiest docks, it was a prime target for German bombers.

B0093-MSS-P2 John Bull Railway arch SPR 1944.jpg
John Bull Railway arch SPR 1944

The government delivered Anderson shelters, to house people in their own back gardens, but these did not alleviate local government of the need to provide larger shelters for the community. Railway arches were converted into shelters that were, unfortunately, exactly where bombs could be expected to fall and were of dubious strength.

On September 6-7 1940 the first high explosive bombs were dropped on Bermondsey. A railway arch on Linsey Street, in use as a shelter at the time, was hit and 23 people died. Over 1940, Bermondsey experienced 395 air raids, during which 99 bombs were dropped. The raids occupied a total of 1,108 hours meaning that Bermondsey residents had to carry on their day-to-day lives, working and socialising, during air raid conditions that totaled a quarter of their year.

One of the worst nights was on February 17 1941, when there were heavy raids across London, with 34 incidents occurring in Southwark. That night, 300 people were taking shelter at the Stainer Street arch near London Bridge station. The roadway under the arches had been converted into a shelter containing a medical aid post. A pair of ten tonne steel doors closed each end of the shelter.
B0094-MSS-P2 Medical aid posts Blitz.jpg
Medical Aid posts 1941

At 10.25pm a high explosive bomb burst into the shelter and exploded in the medical aid post. The steel doors were hurled into the shelter and the water and hydraulic mains burst. In the horror that followed, 68 bodies were recovered and 175 people were injured. Many of the dead were squashed by the steel doors and were beyond recognition. The bodies of Dr Lesley Probyn and her Red Cross nurses Ethel Little and Rosina Hartley at the Medical Aid Post were never found.

Not all Bermondsey residents relied on the larger shelters to protect them during the war and some of the survivor stories show that the Blitz was not all doom and gloom. The raid that struck London on May 10-11 1941 was one of the heaviest of the Blitz and in less than seven hours 121 high explosive bombs, twelve unexploded bombs, two parachute mines, three oil bombs and a large number of incendiaries hit Bermondsey.
Street Party SPR.jpg
Street Party Southwark Park Road

In Spa Mansions, one old man was found uninjured after all the surrounding rooms had been destroyed and the floor underneath him was left unsupported. After he was painstakingly moved to safety he bitterly complained for his bed until it was eventually rescued.
A bomb fell on Hawkstone Road that left a huge sixty-foot crater. Right on the edge of the crater a lone Anderson shelter appeared from the haze and rubble. Out of it emerged an elderly lady who, after calmly taking in the destruction of her surroundings, shouted to her friend below: "There you are Emily - I told you it was a bomb!"

fosney
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The War Years

Postby fosney » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:19 pm

Bermondsey Inccedent enuirey post.jpg
Bermondsey incident enquiry post

fosney
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Re: The War Years

Postby fosney » Mon Feb 06, 2017 2:39 pm

SCD on fire.jpg
Surrey Docks ablaze

fosney
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Re: The War Years

Postby fosney » Mon Feb 06, 2017 2:45 pm

TBR bomb damage.jpg
Bomb damage in Tower Bridge Road

fosney
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Re: The War Years

Postby fosney » Mon Feb 06, 2017 2:51 pm

Doping Room Beermondsey Gas Mask Factory.jpg
Doping Room at Bermondsey Gas mask factory

fosney
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Re: The War Years

Postby fosney » Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:47 pm

Fire fighters at Youngs Glue factory Grange Road
Firefighters.jpg

kiwi
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Re: Living in the Blitz

Postby kiwi » Wed Feb 08, 2017 2:44 am

Grange Road, Bermondsey. Firefighters at a fire at Youngs Glue Factory during the Second World War, 12 October 1940.  1  X.png
Grange Road, Bermondsey. Firefighters at a fire at
Youngs Glue Factory during the Second World War,
12 October 1940.
youngs.jpg
Youngs Glue Factory Fire. WW2, 1940.
Last edited by kiwi on Sat Mar 06, 2021 4:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

kiwi
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Re: Living in the Blitz

Postby kiwi » Wed Feb 08, 2017 3:05 am

Voluntary Aid Detachment,Tower Bridge Road,Bermondsey,1940s..jpg
Voluntary Aid Detachment, Tower Bridge Road,Bermondsey,
1940s.Picture believed to have been taken at
Flint Street School, Flint St.



This was taken in the playground of Fair Street School;
the rear of Devon Mansions in the background. Post by Fogbrain.
Last edited by kiwi on Wed Aug 25, 2021 12:45 am, edited 3 times in total.

kiwi
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KEETON ROAD SCHOOL.

Postby kiwi » Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:24 am

7 September 1940 It was to become the first night of the Blitz.
After months of watching dogfights over their city, Londoners came out onto the streets at the sound of the engines of the approaching aircraft. Many watched in disbelief and listened as the first air raid siren sounded. There had been warnings before, but this time the bombers had appeared.
In two raids 300 bombers dropped high explosives and incendiary devices onto the already devastated docks of London 430 people had been killed.
The Blitz saw London bombed every night and day (except one) for eleven weeks.
The last night of the Blitz was 10-11 May 1941, but it was also the worse. The whole of London was in the German bombers sights as they used the river and the full moon to find their targets including the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey both of which were severely damaged. It was one of the most destructive raids but still the city was still standing and defiant.
The raid lasted seven hours from 10pm through to the all-clear at 5.50am. The raid was the last major raid of the Blitz and saw the highest number of casualties with 1436 Londoners killed.
“During the Blitz, 7739 children were killed.”

On September 7, the first day of the Blitz 29 people were killed at Keeton School, which was being used as a rest centre. The site in Keeton Road suffered a direct hit, with horrifying consequences.
SCHOOL.jpg
Keeton's Road School - Sept 1940.
Last edited by kiwi on Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

kiwi
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Re: Living in the Blitz

Postby kiwi » Tue Feb 14, 2017 4:55 am

FIRE BRIGADE.jpg
Fire Brigade,
1896e13769604d2a90ca418b7b76a837_r.jpg
War Department Markers can still be seen today.

During the war three hundred and twenty-seven men and women of the London regional Fire Service were killed in action and three thousand and eighty-seven were injured because of enemy action.
Last edited by kiwi on Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:55 am, edited 1 time in total.


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