Night’s Heavy Blitz – April 1941 This report describes the aftermath of a heavy night of bombing on the town of Bromley in Kent on 16th April 1941. Due to government censorship of newspapers at the time, no exact location is given, other than a South-East residential location, but we now know this location to be Bromley, St Peter’s and St Pauls’ as the parish church which was destroyed, and the furniture depository being Dunn’s of Bromley which was located on Market Square. Heavy Bombs and Incendiaries in a residential…
Tag: Air Raid
Schools prepared for Air Raids
Air Raid Shelters Keston School Prepared When the scholars at Keston Church Schools return from their Easter vacation on April 1, the new air raid shelter built on the Common opposite the school will be ready for use. The shelter is a workmanlike job with accomodation for upwards of 100 senior scholars. There are emergency exits at the end of each passage, and entrance is made by a flight of steps which decend to thejunction of two passageways. In addition to seats and necessary air-lock and gas preventative…
Residential Areas Suffer, 1941
Night Raiders bring tragedy to families Some places attacked second time Daylight Air Battles: Ten Enemy Machines Down in One Fight Continuing their nightly raids on this country, German raiders have again dropped bombs on towns and villages in South-East England. Residential areas, far from military objectives, have suffered badly, many houses and cottages bring wrecked. The bombers have brought tragedy to several homes in the area, but it is remarkable how few fatal casualties there have been in view of the extent of the material damage. In daylight raids…
Getting a Good Night’s Rest in the Public Shelter
During early 1941 Britain was still in the midst of the Blitz, with no idea how long it was going to last. The Ministry of Home Security issue a number of adverts in local and national newspapers to help prepare people, and provide useful advice like how to get a “Good Night’s rest in a Public Shelter” during an air raid. Before, During and After the Raid A Good Night’s Rest in the Public Shelter – and the help that is ready for you if your home is hit In public shelters…
What to Do Before Going into Your Shelter
Before, during and after the raid What to do before going into your Shelter – and the help that is ready if your home is hit. Before you leave the house, turn off all gas taps, including pilot jets, and turn off the gas at the main. Leave buckets or cans of water and sand or earth on the front-door step, or just inside the door. Put your stirrup pump, if you have one, where it can easily be seen, Draw back curtains and raise blinds in upper rooms so…
Wanton Bombing of Hospital
Sister Killed, Four Nurses Injured Stories of miraculous escapes and high courage A Sister was killed and hours nurses severely injured when German raiders deliberately attacked a South-East hospital during Wednesday night. High explosive and oil bombs were dropped and a kitchen an the female reception ward suffered most. While nurses and patients were being rescued from the debris caused by the first attached the enemy came back and dropped a 1,000lb bomb outside one of the newer hospital buildings. Despite their terrifying experiences, nurses, doctors and rescue workers carried…
Man Survives Air Raid which Destroyed his House
When a bomb demolished a house in a suburb on Saturday afternoon, the owner was inside. To the amazement of the A.R.P. workers who were at once on the spot, the man crawled from the wreckage suffering only from cuts and shock. Here he is being taken to a nearby first-aid post. Press Censorship during World War Two Newspapers rarely gave details of the exact location of successful bombing raids, so we may never know where this incident happened, nor who the lucky survivor was. When war broke out…
Burial of Air Raid Casualties
The idea seems to have gained currency in some districts where there have, unhappily, been fatal air-raid casualties, that such persons are buried, more or less unceremoniously, in a public grave. That is a wrong impression altogether, and that it should exist at all is very distressing. While it is true that the local authority for the area concerned may take charge of the funeral arrangements and may bury the casualties at the public expense where it seems desirable, the funeral is never, in any sense of the word, a…
Men Wanted Now
The devastation left by the air raids on, and around, London was immense and people were needed to help with the clear up. This advert appeared in the Bromley District Times newspaper on the 18th October 1940 advertising for those who were ‘able-bodied’ and ‘temporarily out-of-work’ to enrol for the job. London air raid debris Clearance Scheme Men Wanted Now Jobs for able-bodied men temporarily out-of-work Enrol now at your local Employment Exchange If you are now unemployed and live in the London area, you are invited to enrol…
Babies Born in Raid Shelters
Three in one South-East District Three mothers gave birth to babies in private A.R.P. shelters during a raid over a South-East urban district. The mothers and babies are doing well. In the same raid a house was it by a bomb shortly after a young mother had given birth to a baby. The house was damaged and mother and baby were removed to hospital in the A.R.P. ambulance. A mile from her house a maternity home was shaken by the explosion of a bomb. No one was hurt. I wonder…