I must try to get part two of this- "As a person who walks around London on a regular basis I have become fascinated by the remains of war damage that still exist from the Second World War. While it might not be thought as conventional archaeology, conflict archaeology is fast becoming a popular activity. With this in mind I set out over the past few weeks to investigate the remains of war damage in London and how it still affects our lives and surroundings." ArchNews - The Latest Archaeology News & Articles - London The Forgotten Battlefield Part 1
Hi Mate, this is something I was also very interested in and always wondered about. Great stuff. I know in areas of Germany where Susanne and I visited, you can still see bomb damaged buildings. I saw some in and around Wilhelmshaven. One was easily seen from the Periscope of the East German Minesweeper that sits in the outdoor ships museum there. I took a few pictures through the periscope-that would show the bomb damaged building (which I THINK had been a Kriegsmarine ran hospital during the war?) but, I never got the film developed and the spool these are on, may be lost to the ages.
Good find Gordon.....Seems there was a similar thread wither you or Adam started over at the Talk with pictures of the remaining damage and the signs of restoration. Very incredible stuff in any case, I do envy you Londoners for living in the history that you do.
Hail praise the Historian. The maps really give a good idea of the damage and range of the bombing raid. Shows how accurate they were or weren't, the damage from the blasts - This ties in nicely with what i've seen in the show "Blitz Street" (is that what it was called?) Which studies the blast damage from various ordnances dropped by gerry. Was interesting to see an actual incendairy doing its stuff too...here about it all the time, but has taken this long to actually see one!
Would be great if you could find those pics, Carl. An aerial mine landed in my neck of the woods in 1941, destroying the stadium of King's Park Rovers and the houses alongside it- BBC NEWS.CO.UK | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Football club was WWII casualty My aunt Kate lived in one of the houses, and my old man still has a photo of her, my gran and her kids standing in front of the ruins of the house.
Hi Mate, ill see what I can find when I get back to Austin. I also might be relocating to Corpus Christi again soon? I THINK I know where my undeveloped film is and will try to find it. Trouble is, is I had them labeled but the ink wore off of the cartridges--ill be going into it blind ;-)) Sounds like your Aunt lived in a very interesting place-especially if the Germans thought of trying to destroy it. Oh and, hoping none of your family was lost in that area-or any other for that matter ;-))
Look forward to that Carl. No, none of our lot were hurt, but Aunt Kate was cheesed off enough to emigrate to Canada postwar! Stirling was a garrison town until the Sixties, and the house had an army camp on one side, and a bloody big gasometer on the other. They reckon the latter was the intended target.
My old house was damaged by a V1 and never properly repaired. To this day the utility room floor and the main stairs slopes at quite an angle. So we moved to another part of London and another house, built post war, thankfully. No more bomb damage to contend with. However our new street was also hit by either a V1 or V2 (need to find out which) considerable damage was caused and not properly repaired. My new neighbours are moaning about their sloping walls now! Rather them than me. Tate Britain is an excellent example of a bomb damaged building still thriving today. They decided not to repair the pitted walls and instead keep them as a reminder of just what London went through. My art college is just opposite this wall.
Very interesting indeed, Gordon - I've made my own modest contributions of pics on this Forum over the years. There used to be a lot see in London but today you need a keen eye.....
As promised, here's part two of this feature- "The increased use of deep construction methods used in new buildings in London means old unexploded German bombs from the second world war have become a increased hazard. To help address this, maps showing the likely locations of thousands of unexploded bombs dropped during WW2 have been created for the first time." ArchNews - The Latest Archaeology News & Articles - London, the forgotten Battlefield Part 2 Not only does it include a UXB map of London, but apparently there's going to be a part three too.
Thanks again mate. I dont have enough time remaining to fully look through (on library computer in CC at the mo) but will be back tonight ;-))
I talk a great deal about my father's contribution to the war as an American soldier and I have mentioned my mother's father having died while serving with the RAF, but I don't often mention the fact that my mother was very much affected by WWII having lost her father and as a very young British girl who lived through The Blitz. I regret terribly that I didn't talk to my mother very much about it, she passed away in 1999. She had a very difficult childhood for a number of reasons above and beyond what she experienced during the war, so we didn't talk a lot about it. But I regret that her small place in history is forever lost and I wish I could have heard her story. I will have to comb through the threads, and other souces, and try to piece some of her story together for myself. (There is a 13 year age difference between her and my father, he didn't meet my mother until the 1950's.)
This would make a good "Before and After" Photo Thread. The owners of these buildings must have tremendous pride of and ties to the history they are preserving. Their stories are worth preserving. ... some 2 million buildings being damaged during the Battle of Britain, with over one million in London alone.
