Air Raid Shelters of the Second World War Family Stories of Survival in the Blitz By Stephen Wade This book is ideal for those with an attraction to Britain’s social past, and I would even venture as far as to say perfect for those with an interest in the Home Front during the Second World War. Stephen Wade has not only managed to write about every conceivable angle to shelters but also with a modern day impact as schools teach pupils and urbexing (urban exploring) becomes a new way to discover history on our own doorstep. But the real gems woven within the pages of this book are the experiences of the occupants of these sanctuaries. You get a feel as to what it was like to spar elbows in a claustrophobic public shelter or to rush half asleep into waterlogged and musty back garden Andersons in the middle of a winter’s night. This book doesn’t just concentrate on London’s nightly terrors but also on other parts of Britain as it too faced a trial of high explosive and incendiaries. The duties of the ARP, Heavy Rescue squads and Red Cross among many others are recounted here, as well as even the Boys Scouts as they try to assemble Morrison shelters in people’s small front rooms. Some of the most fascinating accounts for me are during Hitler’s last gasp vengeance weapon attacks. The thought of diving for cover as the pulse engine on a V-1 cuts out and plunges to earth can’t help but to make you realise the helplessness of indiscriminate bombing. Although this is a book about shelters they couldn’t be utilised fully as the V-2 landed with no warning. It’s nice to see a book of this nature not only carry stories of strength amongst loss and destruction but also with touches of humour. There are some nice photos spread throughout the pages to add to a picture within the imagination. Well worth a read, if not just to look into the door ajar of history but to how easy life now is without the threat of death from above at any second. Publisher: Pen & Sword Pages: 192 ISBN: 978-1-84884-327-1 Pen and Sword Books: Military History and Nostalgia Book Publishers
One in Southampton was full of people, a bomb went straight through. If I recall they just entombed the lot, and as far as I know..... they are still there
The Owen Owen department store of Coventry had more than 300 people in their basement when a bomb went straight through - and like the one Sapper relates in Southampton- they were entombed... Cheers
As kids the V 1 bombs did not bother us, we would carry on playing until the engine cut out and only lay down if it was under a mile away. Our local area had its own air raid warning system which one of the kids would belt like hell if the V1 was any near us. This warning was also used by all the mums in the area. I can't say that there were many Anderson shelters in our area but we did have built a brick and concrete shelter by the government in our back garden. These were like the ones we had at school, and we spent many a hour in these listening to the rattle of machine guns firing away. Mind you the teachers had a hell of job of keeping us in the shelters as the boys always wanted to go out and watch the action.
Went to Didcot Railway Centre yesterday and they had an air raid shelter set up there. I'm not sure if it is an 'in situ' one from WW2 or has been resited there.
