What Did Your City Do During The War?

I live in Bedlington Northumberland I wasn't around when the war was on but apparantly there was only 1 bomb dropped through the entire war here and the only casualty was a cow. So looks like the people of Bedlington had it fairly easy during the war.

 

Like Ron I was born within the sound of Bow Bells. I learned to sleep during the blitz, came in handy in a slit-trench later. London's war effort is difficult to define as appart from the larger factories such as those along the Great West Road small manufacturing shops were all over the place, one I knew of turned out brass shell primers. Mustard gas was made at Stratford le Bow. My wife, then girl friend, worked in the City and had to scramble over firemens' hose pipes and rubble to get to her offrice. London certainly survived, eh Ron?

 

OK you guy's, I have read what your city had to endure or not, but now give a thought to the other side too, I was in Hamburg during the Fire-storm in 1943 and believe me, that was no picnic. Well, I was only 4 at the time so no blame on my shoulders I sincerely hope. Want to know more? Go to FAREWELL to HAMBURG by Dieter Rudolph and see details of my book.
Happy reading.

 

Rudolf,

Like several threads, this one started off as a simple question and went off on a Tangent.

The thread is not about suffering after being bombed etc, but what the Town or City did during the war.

Whilst I appreciate that Hamburg was heavily bombed and thousands lost their lives, like many others around Europe, but this thread is really about The War Effort and what was produced etc.

Regards
Tom

 

Hallo,

I am born after the war in Arnhem, but I live in Amersfoort.
Amersfoort is known with a Nazicamp. From this camp a lot of peple were brought to Camps in Germany. Kamp Amersfoort


This is nearby my house.


At this wall some citizen where shot down. You can still see the places were the bullets came. Some people were shot for nothing.



Kamp Amersfoort - Wikipedia

Greetings

Tanja

 

Hi,

I was born in Wallsend, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

See NE Diary 1939-45; Diary Index

"As an area of heavy industry, the north east was involved in the production of ships and armaments for the war effort.

Because of this German bombing targeted the area, although this was not as devastating as the Blitz in London and Coventry."

Regards. Mick D.

 

Hi Rockape, I remember hearing the story of when the goods yard was bombed. The people of Byker, arrived with barrows to cart away the burnt sugar piles. All the tea tasted of toffee for months afterwards.

 

Hi Rob,

That would be the big raid that hit "Manors" caused a lot of damage and burned for a few days.

Yes, probably true about the Byker people scavenging the burnt sugar.

I remember travelling in a Trolley Bus from Walker into Newcastle when I was a little lad along City Road past Manors and my Mother telling me how bad it had been hit.

Also, my family on my Mothers side all worked in the shipyards (Swan Hunters and Walker Naval Yard) on the Tyne and just kept on going during air raids

Regards, Mick D.

 

My home town of Wolverhampton was responsible for production of military vehicles and armoured cars at Guy Motors and Sunbeam, Aircraft at Dowty Boulton & Paul (Most notably the Boulton-Paul Defiant), many aircraft parts at Lucas' and the numerous other big engineering firms, Tyres at Goodyears and ammunition at the Featherstone munitions factory.

Wolverhampton was also a key target for the Luftwaffe, not only for it's manufacturing capacity but also for the Great Western railway locomotive works and being a major rail junction. Oxley sidings was hit several times during air-raids.

Where I live now in Weymouth is littered with military history but the two major historical connections for me are Portland's former Naval Base (in which two fully intact Phoenix units of the Mulberry Harbour are preserved) and the embarkment of the US forces that stormed Pointe Du Hoc and Omaha Beach on D-Day.

 

I have read that my home town of Derry was the most important escort base in the north western approaches.

 

I did read somewhere that Newcastle was pretty fast in listening to a stage illusionist who became the ace at fooling aerial photography. I think he build a fake loop in the Tyne, which led bombers away off over towards Chopwell Woods. Of course Manors was hit, and so was the gents bogs at the top of Shields Road! Yet as far as I know, the yards, Parsons and Vicars were missed.

A nice story about those. I worked at Parson's and a bloke came in laughing one morning. He'd been on the works bus at the Haymarket, and a clergyman had tried to get on. The bus driver sent him away but told everyone to watch. Sure enough the clergyman tried to get on the one in front. The Vickers works bus!

 

Hi Bob,

The yards were targeted and sometimes hit.

See Rowlands Gill and the North-East 1939-1945 - Attacks on the North-East

Quote

"27 Jan 1941 Mon. Another attack on Walker Naval Yard at 8.55 a.m. resulted in damage to a workshop and a jetty; the bombs narrowly missed an almost complete aircraft carrier*. 31 men were injured, one of whom died in the RVI next day. Just before the bombing an AA Post near Pelaw Staithes was machine-gunned.

*(This was HMS Victorious which survived the war)."

My Mother told me once as I drove her down Welbeck Road on a visit back to Walker how during a raid she and her sister walked down the middle of the road coming back home from a dance in Byker.

They did this to avoid the shrapnel which was hitting the house rooftops around them and "tinkling down into the gutters".

The shrapnel was from shells fired by an AA battery covering the yards, The AA battery was sited on the grassed area uphill from the Walker Ferry Landing Stage.

Regards, Mick D.

 

This from the Yorkshire Post 17 January 2005

Goole's part in D-Day

Little is known about the details of the part Goole in East Yorkshire played in the project. The town was one of several chosen to build giant concrete caissons. Only a few people from the town were involved in the secret project, and the caissons were built by contractors Henry Boot, who were housed in huts on the old fairground. At the time residents thought the contractors were building barges of concrete because there was a shortage of steel. Brian Masterman, a local maritime historian said "even when they were towed away people still didn't realise what they were going to be used for. It was all hush hush".

http://www.essex100.com/mulberry.html

 

.
My home town of Fleetwood was a fishing port.(Sadly no longer) Although 17 trawlers were requisitioned by the Navy the remaining fleet, despite their losses during the war, helped feed the nation

Fleetwood trawlers also played a part in the evacuation of Dunkirk. One trawler the Evelyn Rose (138ft) saved 317 men from the beaches of Dunkirk and transported them to Ramsgate. Despite the trawler suffering some damage from enemy fire the Evelyn rose returned to Dunkirk and rescued a further 400 men.

The skipper Arthur Lewis was awarded the OBE for the part he played.

Diane

 

How about Southampton, though it was only a town then? Home of the Spitfire, warship builders and many boat builders, construction of Mulberrys etc; base of the principal Admiralty salvor, largest centre for D-Day embarkation etc etc For these reasons it was almost destroyed by the Luftwaffe.

I lived in south Dorset during the war, I remember the poor B Yanks embarking for Omaha at Weymouth. We had Warmwell aerodrome nearby and the family farm was requisitioned in December 1943 and has never been handed back.

 

Don't forget Landing Craft built at John Thompson just down the road in Bilston and Thompson Chassis, Norton Villiers motor cycles too.

Cheers

Kevin

 

More Leeds:

Bison armoured trucks were made in Leeds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_concrete_armoured_lorry

Also Avro Lancasters were made at Yeadon (now Leeds Bradford) airport. My Mums sister worked there. They had it camoflaged complete with duck pond on roof and wooden animals to make it look like a farm.


Also Kirkstall forge made cast iron stuff, engine blocks and axle casings etc.

Waddingtons in Kirkstall board games, mostly known for monopoly and waddingtons playing cards. Many of these were sent to POWs with escape "tools" hidden in them, silk maps and mini compasses etc.

Drew, a Royal signals uniform of ww2 vintage made by Burtons is in the Leeds Museum.

 

RAF Bentley Priory,North West London
Headquarters of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and the Second World War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bentley_Priory

 

My town, Huntingdon done practise drills for bombing and gas raids and invasions. In the invasion drill the home guard lasted just over two hours before they fell. The plan was to blow up the two medival bridges if they fell. Gas practices with tear gas ended up with people going to hospital because of faulty gas masks or stood in front of fog machine watching the 'novelty' without a mask on.
There was also a lot of community support with feed rooms to deal with families finding it hard with rations. There were calls for people to open up there homes to airmen some did not like the idea though. Right at the start of war the local council found it hard to find air raid shelters for the public, one hotel owner refused to offer her basement because it would not be convenient for her rubbish!
Huntingdon had 4 local airfields, alconbury,Brampton,wyton and upwood. Whilst transporting bombs on a lorry in the small town centre on a sharpe bend and bomb fell off in front of the three tuns pub,no damaged was caused.