Well at least it showed the audience the reality of what happened and the tragic stories.Hopefully it will make people investigate more and become interested in the time period.
Just watched the final one- Really enjoyed the series and that V2 explosion was rather impressive-Even the Mrs mouth fell open which isn't often
Overall I think the series was well presented and had just about the right balance between footage of the experiment and the survivors memories. Could more have been shown of the scientific side? Possibly but then I suspect that the production company realised this would narrow their audience. As for having to reduce the charges, I'm in two minds as to whether it detracted from the experiment or not. I for one, would not have wanted to be around had a full size V-1 landed just down the road.
Snarf, thanks for the information. Nicks, tend to agree, too much scientific stuff might interest us types here but would send the average viewer to the land of Nod in seconds! Overall I feel the series was pitched about right in terms of the experiments and the personal stories, some of which were quite harrowing. Whilst I understand the limitations of the experiments and production costs I do feel that the V2 'experiment' was more of a 'bloody big bang' than useful to understand the effects of the blast. The 'ground heave' in soft wet soil would be totally different to that in London clay and with the buildings constructed on a huge concrete raft rather than on concrete/brick 'strip' footings the results would bear no comparison. Still a good series though. Must have been difficult to even try to simulate wartime conditions etc under current 'elf and safety' regime! Mike
If anyone is interested, there is a good website dedicated to V weapons; FlyingBombsandRockets,V1,V2,Rockets,Flying bombs, Worth a look.
I was working for a client yesterday and she knew about my interest in WW2. "There's a cemetery in Orpington where there is a grave of the last civilian person killed by a V2 in the UK in WW2. My Mum and I could have been killed that day as well." she said It turns out that she had a Aunt who lived in Kynaston Road, Orpington, where the V2 mentioned in Blitz Street landed. She had been feeling unwell and her Mother popped into the shops in nearby Court Road. They were inside the shop when the V2 landed. If they had not stopped at the shops on the way to their Aunt, there would have been a good possibility they might have been walking up the road when the Rocket landed. She told me that they just ran away from the area as fast as they could. The Aunt lived at the far end of that road and survived without injury, although her house sustained minor damage. Shown below are photos of the rear of 88 Kynaston Road where the fatality occurred. 23 others were injured that day in Kynaston Road. The second is of the bungalow as I saw it yesterday. The third photo is of the Headstone of Ivy Mildred Millichamp which I eventually found in Orpington (All Saints) Churchyard. Rear of Kynaston Road The Bungalow today The Headstone of the last UK civilian casualty on the British mainland from WW2. Ironically, my client had not known that Channel 4 had been showing a program about the Blitz and was disappointed not to have seen it.
Interesting to read your thoughts around Blitz Street - Channel 4's viewers editor and programme makers are always interested to hear what you think about our programmes at our blog - Have Your Say - Have Your Say – May
I believe someone associated with the series posted here a while ago. If they want to know what we really think just read the thread! They are obviously aware of it. Why not put up a few posts here? Mike
The area where it took place is 55.045551,-2.580651 (should work in Google maps). The pad has a pond in the top right, the houses were built near to the bottom of the pad with the slope at the bottom of the south side. The problem is that Spadeadam is essentially a "working" site with other experiments set up in different places, other people around the main site (not necessarily where this was taking place) and there is farmland around with animals. The fragmentation throw has to be kept to a minimum to 1) Ensure safety for personnel around Spadeadam 2) Ensure safety for for other "creatures" 3) Ensure that bits of metal aren't left laying around in the road/fields You'd be surprised how far fragmentation can go! I agree that explosions are meant to happen, however there's an element of keeping the local population "happy". They're aware that these things take place, much like someone who lives near a runway accepts a level of aircraft noise. But if you start running afterburning aircraft around these people, they'll start to get mighty annoyed. If you start setting off massive charges (and they do make one hell of a bang!) you start upsetting people (as I said, one large charge was physically felt by the locals, not something that usually happens!). Thanks Snarf, very interesting. I know from my time how "civvies" can behave towards military activity!
Thought I'd plonk these in here as it's about circumstances of damage and survival. From The War Illustrated, Sept 20, 1940 and Sept 27, 1940 - Some London Blitz scenes [incl. a postie for O]
I wondered if there would be a thread on this program anywhere. I watched with great interest as I was curious about blast effects. What I didn't expect was, especially during the first program, were some quite strong feelings of anger along the lines of " how dare they do this to my country". My mother who was a young girl in Birmingham during the war did not watch the programs as shes seen it all before
HI all the first episode was shown here last week, the 50lb bomb made a mess, but I was amazed at the effect of the shrapnel. The 500lb bomb, now that was scary, would not want to be anywhere near one of those, especially with the vacuum effect it created. How bad to survive the blast only to have your lungs sucked out of you! We have no idea what our parents and Grandparents went through. regards Robert
