London at War;Scars and reminders. (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

Wherever you are in London you are never far from a reminder of London at War.Get passed the Mcdonalds,Starbucks etc and there are clues (some hard to spot and others staring you in the face)to what this City has been through in two world wars.

The damage at the bottom of the Sphinx was caused by a bomb dropped nearby during the very first air raid on London in 1917.

We can also see Air raid shelter directions,seventy years on they are fading but still there.

The first pic is the memorial to all the Firmen who gave their lives fighting the Blitz during WW2,a very deserved memorial to a wonderful group of very brave men.

Rob

 

[Rob]

The wonderful Battle of Britain memorial on the Victoria Embankment

Rob

 

[Rob]

More;

Rob

 

[Rob]

Now i know what you are thinking,you are thinking the poor boy is now just photographing walls,take the camera off of him someone!.But this is no ordinary wall i tell you!.For those of you who wonder just how close the Royal Family came to the War,this is the North Wall of Buckinham Palace.The different colour of Brick shows where just after midnight on the 20th June 1944 a V1 hit this spot.

With the wall demolished at this spot, hundreds of Royal Corgi's seized their chance for freedom and fled into Royal Parks,fouling footpaths,biting the heads off tulips and doing unspeakable things to the Legs of passers by.Churchill ordered the whole thing covered up for purposes of morale in case people thought the dogs were working for the Nazis.....ok ok so i made up the bit about the Royal Dogs but the V1 bit is true!.

Just a few days later another V1 made it over the wall and into the garden of Buck house but there was little damage.

 

[1879fanatic]

Rob,
Not to interrupt the fine flow of history and pictures...Just wanted to egg you on for more..It is so interesting to me and is also not to be forgotten. I can show my kids these pictures and give the events behind them.
Long Live Britannia!
Mike

 

[Rob]

Rob,
Not to interrupt the fine flow of history and pictures...Just wanted to egg you on for more..It is so interesting to me and is also not to be forgotten. I can show my kids these pictures and give the events behind them.
Long Live Britannia!
Mike

Thanks Mike thats very kind of you mate.I really agree with you in that we must remember.I hope to make this a regular thread with pictures throughout the summer and I will be returning next week to get some more shots.Thanks for posting i appreciate your comments.

Rob

 

[Louis Badolato]

To me, the courage of the people that fought in the Battle of Britain, or simply lived through the Blitz is a great inspiration.

 

[Rob]

To me, the courage of the people that fought in the Battle of Britain, or simply lived through the Blitz is a great inspiration.

Couldn't agree more Louis.All i have to moan about is the weather and the size of my credit card bill,that generation must have had true guts and determination to get through the Blitz,my pride and admiration of them knows no bounds.I also feel that it was those qualities in all the Allied Nations that meant the Nazi's were never going to win.

Rob

 

[aujj65]

Rob, thanks for starting this thread and getting involved with the Pillbox one. I pass these sort of landmarks on a weekly basis and don't really stop to think about what they really mean............good one Rob!

Jeff

 

[Rob]

Thanks Jeff,in fact i was going to put them in your Pillbox thread (especially the shelter signs)but didn't want to hijack your thread.Over the coming months i hope to put Pillboxes and other defences in your thread and memorials and other bits here.I just love this Home front Stuff!

Rob

 

[debrito]

Couldn't agree more Louis.All i have to moan about is the weather and the size of my credit card bill,that generation must have had true guts and determination to get through the Blitz,my pride and admiration of them knows no bounds.I also feel that it was those qualities in all the Allied Nations that meant the Nazi's were never going to win.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Like this words “guts and determination to get through the Blitz” because those pilots had a lot, like Churchill said “we should never surrender” and they did not.

Rod.

 

[Lewey Gun Vick]

Very cool Rob!!

Vick

 

[Evzone]

The worst civilian disaster in the UK during WW2 was the Bethnal Green tube disaster in March 1943. A crowd of people seeking shelter from a raid entered the station just as an anti-aircraft battery in nearby Victoria Park fired a new type of AA rocket. The din caused the crowd to surge forward, people tripped on the stairs causing many others to fall. 300 people were crushed in the stairwell within a few seconds, 173 of them died.

Significantly for me I was brought up and went to school in the area, and my late father's side of the family lost a relative in the disaster. All around London's Eastend there are stories to be had from the blitz. I understand that a memorial has been laid at the site in Bethnal Green recently.

Close by to Bethnal Green there is a plaque on the wall of a block of flats near Roman Road market where a V1 (V2?) demolished a terrace row of houses causing considerable loss of life.

You don't have to look hard to find a story on London's streets. The place is steeped in history.

 

[GICOP]

Here is a plaque to commemoration the death of many US G.I’s and WAC’s by a V1 in Chelsea on July 3rd 1944

This is the original plaque, set in the pavement

This plaque is across the road from the original plaque and is on the outer wall of
The Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, South West London about a quarter of a mile from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home to the world famous Chelsea Pensioners.

Just as an aside, the building in Sloane Court East that was destroyed by the V1 had been housing the Glenn Miller Band 24 hours before the explosion, they had only just transferred to Bedford.

Martyn

 

[Evzone]

That's fascinating - I never knew about the Sloane Court disaster. Nearby in Ebury Street they dug up the remains of Ray Holmes Hurricane that rammed the German bomber heading for Buckingham Palace

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...he-ww2-pilot-who-saved-the-palace-562669.html

 

[Rob]

The worst civilian disaster in the UK during WW2 was the Bethnal Green tube disaster in March 1943. A crowd of people seeking shelter from a raid entered the station just as an anti-aircraft battery in nearby Victoria Park fired a new type of AA rocket. The din caused the crowd to surge forward, people tripped on the stairs causing many others to fall. 300 people were crushed in the stairwell within a few seconds, 173 of them died.

Significantly for me I was brought up and went to school in the area, and my late father's side of the family lost a relative in the disaster. All around London's Eastend there are stories to be had from the blitz. I understand that a memorial has been laid at the site in Bethnal Green recently.

Close by to Bethnal Green there is a plaque on the wall of a block of flats near Roman Road market where a V1 (V2?) demolished a terrace row of houses causing considerable loss of life.

You don't have to look hard to find a story on London's streets. The place is steeped in history.

Wow funny you should mention Bethnal Green,i was going there yesterday but ran out of time,but am returning next week to photograph the memorial plaque and staircase.

Rob

 

[Rob]

Here is a plaque to commemoration the death of many US G.I’s and WAC’s by a V1 in Chelsea on July 3rd 1944

This is the original plaque, set in the pavement

This plaque is across the road from the original plaque and is on the outer wall of
The Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, South West London about a quarter of a mile from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home to the world famous Chelsea Pensioners.

Just as an aside, the building in Sloane Court East that was destroyed by the V1 had been housing the Glenn Miller Band 24 hours before the explosion, they had only just transferred to Bedford.

Martyn

Excellent pics,thanks for posting them.

Rob

 

[Rob]

Hi Rob,

Like this words “guts and determination to get through the Blitz” because those pilots had a lot, like Churchill said “we should never surrender” and they did not.

Rod.

Absolutely agree.

Rob

 

[Simpson & his donkey.]

Wherever you are in London you are never far from a reminder of London at War.Get passed the Mcdonalds,Starbucks etc and there are clues (some hard to spot and others staring you in the face)to what this City has been through in two world wars.

The damage at the bottom of the Sphinx was caused by a bomb dropped nearby during the very first air raid on London in 1917.

We can also see Air raid shelter directions,seventy years on they are fading but still there.

The first pic is the memorial to all the Firmen who gave their lives fighting the Blitz during WW2,a very deserved memorial to a wonderful group of very brave men.

Rob

Rob great photos.Simmo.

 

[Rob]

Thanks Simmo,great fun finding this stuff,a lot of the time we walk past it hardly knowing its there.

Rob