Exploring Wartime Woolwich

LCC Bomb Damage Map for the area of the walk (author's image)

Last month, we looked at the classic British war movie Battle of Britain, in advance of the special open-air screening of this film as part of the 2017 Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival. The evening was a great success and although it has to be said that the weather was not particularly kind to us, some quick thinking on the part of the organisers, coupled with some judicious examination of on-line weather forecasts, ensured that the hardy souls who did brave the rain were able to sit under cover in order to enjoy the film.

One of the supporting events for the film was a short guided walk of the local area to give people a taste of what the people of Woolwich had to endure not only during the Battle of Britain/Blitz period but during the whole of the Second World War. As this walk is unlikely to be repeated in the immediate future, it seems a good idea to give readers the chance to undertake a 'virtual' walk of Wartime Woolwich without having to get wet!

Postcard view of a Church Parade in Victorian times (author's collection)

Needless to say, the walk started and finished at the event venue, the Royal Garrison Church of St George, which as it's name suggests was originally built for the soldiers of the adjacent Royal Artillery Barracks. The church was built between 1862-63 on the orders of Lord Herbert, the Secretary of State for War in order to provide "moral well-being for soldiers of the Royal Artillery" and which was part of a more general response to the criticism aimed at the government of the day following the Crimean War, when the lack of modern facilities for the British Army was brought to the attention of the public. The church was designed in an Italo-Romanesque style and was very similar to Lord Herbert's own parish church in Wilton, Wiltshire, although built on a much larger scale. The church was the work of the architect Thomas Wyatt, assisted by his brother, Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt.

Pre-WW2 postcard view of the Garrison Church (author's collection)

The church served the Royal Artillery faithfully for many years, with Sunday church parades becoming a regular feature of Woolwich life. The building suffered blast damage from a Zeppelin raid in the First World War and in the following conflict, was initially damaged on the night of 9 March 1941, when a High Explosive bomb caused damage to the north-western corner of the church and left shrapnel damage to the marble entrance pillars that can still be seen to this day. This was one of no fewer than seven bombs that fell in the immediate area on that night but the real killer blow came some three years later when the church was struck by a V-1 Flying Bomb on Thursday 13 July 1944, causing the building to lose it's roof and upper levels. The church can be seen on the extract from the LCC Bomb Damage Maps above, at the bottom right-hand corner of the page. The church is coloured in light red, which indicates that it was thought that repairs were possible but as will be seen below, this proved not to be the case.

Shrapnel damage still visible (author's photo)

The Garrison Church as it is today (author's photo)

Once the rubble was cleared, the church remained in limited use, with occasional open-air services. A rebuilding was mooted in the early 1950s but a road widening scheme, coupled with the general shortage of funds for defence-related matters put paid to that plan. The ruins were further stabilised in the 1970s, with the remnants of the upper walls removed and more recently, a modern canopy was erected over the altar area to replace the unsightly corrugated iron structure previously installed there. This permitted restoration and stabilising works to be undertaken to the fine mosaics at the altar and which should ensure the future of the building going forward. In 2011, the ownership of the church was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to a Trust and today, the building seems to have an assured future as a venue for a variety of events.

From the Garrison Church, the group crossed the strangely quiet South Circular Road and began to walk along the footpath which traverses Woolwich Common adjacent to the magnificent frontage of the Royal Artillery Barracks, built between 1776 and 1802 which at 329 metres, represents the longest continuous architectural frontage in London and which today is Grade 2* Listed. This pathway can be seen running across the bottom of the map reproduced above but perhaps because the barracks were still a relatively secret establishment during the wartime years, no bomb damage is recorded on the map. The Luftwaffe had scant respect for historic buildings however, and the barracks suffered serious blast damage from the seven High Explosive bombs dropped on 9 March 1941 mentioned above as well as receiving fire damage from German incendiaries dropped on 19 April 1944, in what proved to be the final Luftwaffe raid (as opposed to V-Weapon attack) on the borough of the entire war.

Pointing out bomb damage to the group at the RA Barracks (Paul Chapman)

The rain was by now beginning to fall more heavily as the group continued across the footpath and turned right into Repository Road, which is shown on the LCC map as running to the immediate left of the main barrack block. Finding shelter beneath some trees, the group next paused adjacent to the main gate of the modern Woolwich Barracks, now home to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, where we discovered a simple memorial to one of Churchill's 'Few' from the Battle of Britain. Given that we were walking on 15 September, Battle of Britain Day and given the subject matter of the film that we were about to watch, this was the most poignant moment of the walk and this fact was not lost upon the group.

Memorial to Robin McGregor 'Bubble' Waterston (author's photo)

The memorial is one of several placed by the excellent Shoreham Aircraft Museum in Kent, commemorating members of 'The Few' who lost their lives within a short radius of the museum. The airman in question on this particular memorial is Flying Officer Robin McGregor 'Bubble' Waterston, aged just 23 in 1940 and whose Spitfire X4273 was shot down in a dogfight over the streets of Southeast London during the early evening of 31 August 1940. As his name might suggest, Robin was a Scot, who served with 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron based at RAF Hornchurch in Essex. The squadron had only moved down from Dyce, Scotland on 27 August as part of the ongoing rotation of squadrons in order to reinforce those defending London and the Southeast during the Battle of Britain. Robin had gained his nickname due to his reputed likeness as a youngster to the young boy who was the subject matter of Millais' still life painting which was later used as an advert for Pears Soap. Robin was a very well-liked personality within his squadron who would think nothing of rolling his sleeves up during his off-duty periods in order to help his ground-crew service his aircraft.

Robin Waterston (right) holding a beer (Photo supplied to me by John Duncan www.newbattleatwar.com - also David Ross collection)

Robin became one of the victims of a major air battle that took place above Woolwich during that early evening and was still inside his Spitfire when it crashed opposite to where the memorial is now placed, close to the junction of Repository Road and Hillreach. During the same battle, a Messerschmitt Bf109 flown by Oberleutnant Walter Binder of 4.KG76 was also shot down. This aircraft crashed in nearby Ann Street in Plumstead and like Robin, the German pilot was also killed in his aircraft. It was thought that he was shot down by Sergeant Stokoe, also from 603 Squadron but it is not known whether the German officer was the pilot responsible for shooting down 'Bubble' Waterston.

The rain was now falling steadily as the group turned sharp right into Artillery Place and proceeded along this road, which can be seen on the map running from left to right almost at the dead centre of the image. We paused briefly opposite the garage and car dealership, which amazingly in 1940 also served as a garage and which saw some drama on the night of 17 October 1940 when it was the scene of an unexploded bomb, which was successfully dealt with by the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Squad and in the rain, we talked briefly of the work undertaken by these extremely brave men.

Moving along Artillery Place, we next paused on the corner as the road bears left opposite a small side street named Belford Place, which can be seen on the LCC map as a plethora of dark shades, indicating total destruction of buildings and those damaged beyond repair. Four houses in Belford Place were destroyed on the night of 19 March 1941 by a Parachute Mine, which also caused severe damage to Mulgrave Place School, then in use as Auxiliary Fire Station 42W. Seven lives were lost from amongst the residents of the destroyed houses, including a 6 year old boy named Peter Harding, who was killed along with his father. The school, already heavily damaged, was then almost completely destroyed on the night of 20 April 1941 when a High Explosive Bomb detonated, causing the deaths of three AFS Firefighters, including Auxiliary Firewoman Lillian Baker, as well as an 18 year old AFS Messenger, Francis McDonough and Station Officer Charles Burden. This raid coincided with Adolf Hitler's birthday and was thought at the time be some sort of bizarre birthday gift for the Fuhrer.

The War Artist Bernard Hailstone was a member of the AFS who was stationed at Mulgrave Place for a while and his painting of the ruined school buildings now forms part of the collection of the Greenwich Heritage Trust. Not surprisingly, the ruins were demolished and replaced by a new school building post-war.

Bernard Hailstone's painting of Mulgrave Place School (author's photo from original at Greenwich Heritage Centre)

The group now headed down the gentle slope to the junction of John Wilson Street, which in 1940 did not exist and was then a narrow footpath called St John's Passage which can be faintly seen on the right of the LCC map running immediately to the right of the main Barrack block. The junction of this pathway with Artillery Place was in 1940 the location of St John's Church, which had already closed as redundant in 1939. The empty building was damaged by incendiary bombs on the night of 11 September 1940 and further damaged by the blast from the V-1 that caused such heavy damage to the Garrison Church on 13 July 1944. The ruins were demolished in 1948 and any trace of the footprint of the church was subsequently lost beneath the newly constructed John Wilson Street in the late 1960s so that today no trace of it's existence can be discovered.

St John's Church Woolwich (author's collection)

A now distinctly damp group now headed back to the relative dryness of the Garrison Church to take on some liquid refreshments before settling down for the main event of the evening. Despite the efforts of the weather, the evening was a great success and thanks are due to all of those who braved the rain and attended the film and the walk beforehand, the re-enactors who came along, Neil from the London Beer Factory who supplied us with light refreshments as well as to the Garrison Church Trust who permitted us to use their wonderful venue once again. Hopefully the weather will smile on us for next year's events at the Garrison Church!

Exploring Wartime Blackheath & Greenwich

The walk starts outside All Saints' Church (all photos courtesy Sam Dorrington, Everlasting Moments)

The spring and summer months, hopefully blessed with better weather, tend to be the busiest time for guiding our Blitz Walks and so far, this year has proved to be our busiest yet. Neil has been actively engaged with his City of London and Mayfair walks, whilst yours truly has been fully occupied with private walks covering Chelsea, Westminster and earlier this month, around my native Greenwich.

Back in the late winter, I was contacted by Janet, who wished to organize a surprise birthday walk for her history loving husband, who also happened to have been born in Blackheath. Our Blackheath & Greenwich walk fitted the bill and the walk was duly booked for 9th June. 

Whilst our clients are always good company, linked through a common interest in our wartime past, it is always one of the joys of guiding to find out exactly how much any particular walker, or groups of walkers know about their subject and I was delighted to discover that my client on this occasion was the legendary DJ, Robbie Vincent. Both Robbie and Janet are passionate about London's history and it's wartime past and were delightful company throughout the walk.

It just so happened that on this particular day, I was being accompanied by my very good friend and professional photographer, Sam Dorrington of Everlasting Moments Photography who had kindly come along to take some shots in order to update our main website, which he also designed. With all of these factors in place, it seemed a good idea to write a short piece for this blog about the day, which will also hopefully give the prospective walker some idea as to what to expect on one of our walks.

The Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich, as it was known during the war, like the rest of our capital, suffered it's share of punishment during the Blitz of 1940-41 and once again during the onslaught of the V-1 and V-2 'Terror Weapons' in 1944-45. Our walk of the area, like all of those that we guide, is designed to commemorate those times and to honour the people that lived through (and all too often did not survive) those dark days. There are still scars to be seen and clues as to what happened all those years ago and thanks to the excellent Greenwich Heritage Centre which has an extensive photographic record of many of the incidents, we are able to bring a 'then and now' perspective to many aspects of the walk.

Our walk started outside All Saints' Church, a well known Blackheath landmark and after setting the scene for the Blitz and it's implications for the area, we set off on our tour. Perhaps fittingly in this, the centenary year of the outbreak of the Great War, our first port of call highlighted the impact of this earlier conflict upon the area. This first stand was the former church hall for All Saints', now the Mary Evans Picture Library. Although a delightful building in it's own right, the reason for it's existence is due to a Zeppelin raid of 1916 which devastated the original terraced housing that once occupied the spot. The Zeppelin raids were an ominous reminder to Londoners that modern warfare was no longer a distant affair that did not affect civilians and that in the 20th Century, the populations of major cities, even those a long way from the front line, were just as much in the firing line as the servicemen directly facing the enemy.

Examining the scene of an earlier conflict

Our next stand took us around the corner to Collins Street, where we examined a now familiar colour scheme for street furniture but discovered how the black and white stripes came into their own during the Blackout. We also learned of the work of the Air Raid Wardens, how our latter day perception of them as being similar to Mr Hodges from the Dad's Army series was originally not too different in 1940 and how this was all to change once the bombs started to fall. It was at this location that the first of my 'props' came out, which as well as the archive photos, really help to bring the experience alive for our walkers.

Steve shows a once-familiar piece of headgear

Moving on from Collins Street, the next stand highlighted our first actual Second World War incident, when we paused at Wemyss Road, the scene of a V-2 Rocket incident dating from March 1945, some two months before the end of the war in Europe, which demonstrated again that the people of London were in the front line almost right until the end of the war.

We then moved around to The Paragon, which despite today being an oasis of peace, was the target of some of the worst of the Blitz on the night of 16th/17th April 1941, a raid so fierce that it became ingrained in London Blitz folklore as 'The Wednesday.' Fortunately, The Paragon and it's adjoining buildings were largely rebuilt after the war and deservedly won a Festival of Britain Award for architecture in 1951 for this work. However, the scars are still there to be seen and with some help from the archive photos and the ARP Incident Log, it is possible to piece together what happened on that night.

Steve explains an incident to Robbie at Paragon House

 

Robbie and Janet spot a 'then and now' similarity at The Paragon

Our walk then moved across Blackheath itself, where we discovered how the heath was the site of anti-aircraft defences in the form of guns, barrage balloons and for a short while, rockets and how before these all appeared, how obstructions appeared on the heath in an effort to thwart any prospective airborne invasion. Once we reached Greenwich Park, we were able to see surviving evidence of Home Guard defences and how they would have tried to exact a heavy price on any German advance into Central London. This evidence takes the form of 'loopholes' or firing positions cut into the wall surrounding the park and whilst most of them have been filled in, there are some survivors. Far from being the buffoons portrayed in Dad's Army, the Home Guard were a brave group of men, mostly of a 'certain age' who despite their early lack of equipment, would have sold their lives dearly in an attempt to halt a German invasion.

Home Guard firing position

Moving away from the traffic's roar of the main A2 trunk road, we moved into the peace and quiet of Greenwich Park and after pausing at the Ranger's House to discuss it's wartime use as an Auxiliary Fire Station, we moved along to the General Wolfe statue, which still bears it's honourable scars caused by shrapnel from a nearby high explosive bomb blast in October 1940. It was here that another of my 'props' appeared, a collection of shrapnel collected from the Thames foreshore at Greenwich by Nicola White of Tideline Art which graphically demonstrates the damage that these lethal chunks of metal can cause. It was at this point many years ago as a small boy, that I can honestly say that my interest in history began and to those of you taking this walk, I will produce photographic evidence of this fact!

 

Robbie & Janet examine General Wolfe's wartime scars

We then walked down to the Park Row gate and exited the Park, pausing on the corner of Park Row to examine the former site of Greenwich Police Station, destroyed by a V-1 Flying Bomb, almost exactly seventy years ago, before entering the Old Royal Naval College and standing in the footsteps of our wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who came to inspect bomb damage here on the second day of the Blitz, 8th September 1940.

Standing in the footsteps of Churchill at the ORNC

Our final stand on this walk was at St Alfege's Church, in the heart of Greenwich Town Centre. This classic piece of Hawksmoor church architecture was laid waste by a German incendiary bomb on the night of 19th March 1941 and although painstakingly restored in the 1950s, is a graphic demonstration that area bombing has no respect for historic buildings. It was at this stage that my final 'prop' appeared in the form of a Defence Medal, the nearest thing to a campaign medal ever issued to the men and women of the Civil Defence services.

The Defence Medal

It was at this point that we bade our farewells to Robbie and Janet, who had to return to their car in Greenwich Park, before Sam and I repaired to the nearest pub for a well deserved pint!

I make no apologies for being deliberately vague about the detail of the walk as well as omitting many of the stands and 'props' used. There are two reasons for this - firstly, if I were to include everything, then this article would be about three times it's current length and secondly, there would be no incentive to come along on the walk if prospective walkers knew everything in advance!

There is nothing like walking the ground, so I hope that from this aperitif, readers of this article will decide to book up on the next Greenwich walk, which is scheduled for Sunday August 31st. Details will appear on the Next Walks page of the main website as well as on my Twitter page @Blitzwalker. As an alternative, our private walks for a small group of friends or family, as with the walk described above, are very popular and won't break the bank.

Thanks are once again due to Robbie and Janet Vincent for being such good company on the walk and to Sam Dorrington for taking such a great set of photos, a mere sample of which have been on display here.

Wartime Greenwich & Woolwich

(Author's collection)

Over the four years that this blog has been appearing, it is fair to say that I have managed to insert a few wartime photographs of my own local 'patch' of Greenwich and to a lesser extent, Woolwich and each time that these photos have appeared, I have always been asked to share a few more. So in this week's blog, we are once again going to visit, what in 1939-45 were known as the Metropolitan Boroughs of Greenwich and Woolwich but which nowadays are united as the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Unless otherwise stated, all of these photographs come from the excellent collection of the Greenwich Heritage Centre and are reproduced here with their permission.

We actually start with a couple of pre-war photographs that show the preparations being made by the fledgling Civil Defence Services. The first shot is taken at a familiar location that is still easily recognisable today and shows the Greenwich Auxiliary Fire Service, or AFS on an exercise on the Greenwich river front on 28th July 1939.

Greenwich AFS on exercises - July 1939

The second photograph was taken at a location in Woolwich currently unknown to the author but shows the Air Raid Wardens of the borough undertaking a gas decontamination exercise, again in 1939. Mercifully, poison gas was never used by either side during the Second World War, despite stocks being held by both sides. The whole procedure has gathered some fascinated onlookers. Are any of these small children watching still alive, I wonder?

Woolwich Gas Decontamination exercise

Another vital cog in the Civil Defence mechanism was the WVS, or Womens' Voluntary Service as they were then known. The WVS were to be seen everywhere in wartime Britain, handing out tea and refreshments to returning soldiers evacuated from France in 1940, assisting with the evacuation of children and mothers at railway stations and other marshalling points and operating mobile canteens for the emergency services during the Blitz to name but a few of their activities. The photograph below shows another pre-war exercise in Woolwich, with the ladies stockpiling loaves, once more before a fascinated audience!

WVS ladies in Woolwich -1939

The next photograph shows a group of Woolwich children at Victoria Station on their way to being evacuated to Cranbrook in Kent. Once again, are any of these Children still alive today?

Woolwich children at Victoria Station - 1940

Once evacuated, these children from urban London and other major cities were thrown into an alien environment. The majority of them had never left home before and certainly not without their parents, so it must have been an enormous culture shock to suddenly move from a London suburb such as Greenwich down to rural Torquay. The photograph of this trio is especially poignant for me, as they are captioned as having come from my old primary school, Charlton Manor.

Charlton Manor evacuees - June 1940 (LMA)

What of those left behind - both children and adult? Following the fall of France in June 1940, invasion of this country was thought to be a serious possibility and so the Home Guard was formed as a result of Anthony Eden's call to arms. Initially christened the Local Defence Volunteers or LDV (or 'Look, Duck and Vanish' as they were named by some unkind people), this force was largely formed by gentleman of 'a certain age' who had seen service in the previous conflict, as the next photograph of the 26th (County of London) Bn., Home Guard shows. As well as the Great War veterans, there are also a fair number of younger members, perhaps waiting for their call-up into the fighting services.

'C' Coy, 26th (County of London) Bn., Home Guard in 1942

Sometimes derided, even at the time, there is no doubt that the Home Guard were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the attached extract from their Traning Manual shows what was expected of them should invasion have come.

Home Guard Muster Instructions (author's collection)

Although the German land invasion did not occur, the bombers of the Luftwaffe did visit London on a nightly basis. Greenwich and Woolwich suffered badly and the following selection of photographs shows some of the damage across the two boroughs. The first image shows the aftermath of a high explosive bomb at Stratheden Parade, Blackheath in the early hours of 19th October 1940. The pub visible on the right is the Royal Standard.

Stratheden Parade & The Royal Standard - October 1940

The sheer devastation caused by the 'airburst' effect of a parachute mine can be seen in this admittedly grainy photograph of Alabama Street, Plumstead on 20th March 1941, which sadly caused twenty one fatal casualties.

Alabama Street, Plumstead - 17th March 1941

Following the end of the 'First Blitz' in May 1941, a period of respite followed and Londoners may have been forgiven for thinking that by June 1944, with the invasion of Europe beginning to become an established fact, that perhaps the days of bombardment for London were over. Unfortunately, on 13th June 1944 the first of Hitler's so called 'Vengeance Weapons' began to fall on the capital and southeast London was once again in the firing line. Although the very first V-1 to fall on London landed in Bow, it wasn't long before Greenwich and Woolwich were on the receiving end of these weapons. An early recipient was the fire appliance factory of Merryweather's in Greenwich High Road on 25th June 1944.

Greenwich High Road - June 1944

Greenwich High Road was once again the target on 12th July 1944 when West Greenwich House and it's immediate surroundings were devastated.

West Greenwich House - 12th July 1944

 

After the V-1, came an even worse Vengeance Weapon, the V-2 rocket. Fired from mobile sites in Holland, these early guided missiles came with no warning whatsoever and destroyed their 'targets' totally at random. Once again, Greenwich and Woolwich were at the forefront, as this shot of Troughton Road, Charlton taken in the immediate aftermath of a rocket explosion on 8th February 1945 shows.

Troughton Road, Charlton - 8th February 1945

Fortunately, the end of the war in Europe was now a matter of weeks away and the last V-2 was to fall on London on 28th March 1945. The German surrender came on May 8th and this day was immediately declared VE (Victory in Europe) Day and the street parties could begin as in this example in Frances Street, Woolwich.

The day they waited for - VE Day

If these photographs have given you an appetiser to see more of wartime Greenwich, I will be guiding a Blackheath and Greenwich Blitz Walk on Sunday 30th March, in which more of these archive photos will be used to give a 'then and now' perspective of the area. Details of this - and all of our other walks - can be found at www.blitzwalkers.co.uk/dates.html and which also gives booking details.

Unpublished Sources:

Greenwich Heritage Centre photos

London Metropolitan Archives

Author's collection photos

The Pen is Mightier........

A blog of this nature, although we try to be comprehensive and accurate in the subjects covered, cannot compete with the depth of knowledge and sheer detail that goes into many of the books written on the Second World War.

Such books began to appear immediately the war was over and continue to be written to this day. As someone who guides Blitz-related walks around London and as a Blitz-related blogger and writer, I am often asked what books I would recommend to someone starting a wartime library or to someone who has even a passing interest in the subject. Both Neil and I are very careful to add a ‘Published Sources’ footnote to our blog and whilst our articles are by no means a ‘cut and paste’ job, we are always very aware of the work that goes into producing any piece of writing and are happy (and proud) to acknowledge our sources and inspirations.

Therefore, in answer to the oft asked question, here are my thoughts on the very best of Second World War writing. By its very nature, such a list is subjective and I would welcome the comments of our readers as to their favourites.

As can be imagined, many books were written once the Blitz was over and in the immediate aftermath. These books are still of tremendous value, although some of them are written in the style of their time which can sometimes be seen as politically incorrect and were also written at a time when some of the secrets of the war were still to be revealed.

Of books written whilst the war was still in progress, Front Line 1940-41, published by HMSO in 1942 is a remarkable pictorial study of the Blitz which was issued as a tribute to Britain’s Civil Defence services. Probably the best of the contemporary histories is Carry on London! written in 1941 by Ritchie Calder, who wrote for the now defunct newspaper The Daily Herald and later became Science Editor of the also long disappeared News Chronicle. He was also the father of the author and historian Angus Calder, of whom more later. As might be expected, it is written in a journalistic style and concentrates on the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the ordinary people.

Of the books written in the immediate aftermath of the war, easily the best written in my opinion is Westminster in War by William Sansom and published in 1947. During the war, Sansom was a full time London firefighter, serving initially in the Auxiliary Fire Service and later the National Fire Service, who had several close calls, especially on 29th December 1940, when he narrowly avoided being buried by falling masonry on the night the City of London was firebombed. Well qualified to write on his subject, Sansom became a full time novelist, short story and travel writer post-war and this book stands up well to this day.

Specific raids have also been well covered; The City That Wouldn’t Die by Richard Collier, published in 1959 concentrates on the last night of the Blitz – 10th/11th May 1941 – and is written in a compelling style as befits a journalist with the Daily Mail amongst other publications. Collier skilfully selects various participants, both on the British and German sides and follows their stories through this night of nights. Blitz, by M J Gaskin, is a much more recent addition to the ranks of the publications, not appearing until 2005 and covers the night of 29th December 1940, the great fire raid on the City of London and is written in a similar style to Collier’s book, concentrating on the stories of many of those involved during this raid, cleverly interweaving their stories. Margaret Gaskin wrote this book because she was initially puzzled why so much of the history of the City of London was seemingly punctuated by the recurring date of 29th December 1940 and simply wanted to get to the bottom of the story, which she has done supremely well.

Of general histories of the Blitz, there are several that stand out; Backs to the Wall by Leonard Mosley published in 1971 deals with the general subject pretty well and uses the by now tried and tested methods of concentrating on specific people who were involved and following their stories through the war. This is a fine book but suffers, in this writer’s opinion due to the author’s political viewpoint clouding his judgement occasionally. For example, he accuses Lord Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, of being out of touch with the situation in London. This is patently incorrect; Alanbrooke was based in London throughout the war and although his job dictated periodic absences, he was well aware as to what was going on and suffered losses amongst his own friends and family during the war. Out of touch he wasn’t! London at War 1939-45 by Philip Ziegler and published in 1995 is a masterful study of life in London not only during the Blitz, but during the war in general and as such grasps the atmosphere of London during this period very well.

However, in this writer’s opinion the best of these ‘general’ histories is The Blitz by Constantine FitzGibbon, first published in 1957 and which remains a magisterial piece of work. FitzGibbon was a well known novelist and historian who had previously written an account of the attempt on Hitler’s life, so was well qualified to write this history. It is supremely well-written and contains some of the best personal accounts of various incidents, known and lesser known. The illustrations by Henry Moore also add a touch of class to this wonderful book.

Another general history, this time of the Battle of Britain, The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood with Derek Dempster and first published in 1961, remains a valuable chronicle of the Battle of Britain. The Battle is viewed on a day-by-day basis, detailing the actions, participants and captures well the cut and thrust of the battle for the survival of this island. The organisational detail of both RAF Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe, together with the stories of the personalities and equipment used makes this a fascinating publication. An updated and illustrated version of this book was released in 1990 which takes into account many of the 'Ultra' secrets which could not be mentioned when this book was first published.

Many social histories of the ‘Home Front’ have been written. In this writer’s opinion, Angus Calder, son of the aforementioned Ritchie is the writer of two of the best books on the subject, The People’s War published in 1969 and The Myth of the Blitz published in 1990. Don’t be put off by the title of this latter book; this is in no way a revisionist work and Angus Calder is not a debunker. As he explains in his own introduction, he doesn’t use the word ‘myth’ as if exposing lies, as does one particularly forgettable book on the subject (that Calder refers to but which I will not do the honour of advertising) but rather re-examines already known facts and looks at the whole event in a rational manner, whilst at the same time reminding us that the Blitz wasn’t just about cheeky, salt-of-the-earth cockneys taking Hitler’s worst on the chin (which they actually did surprisingly often) but was also about looting, road accidents, official incompetence and the general effect on the British people, as well as how this period is portrayed in films, for example. As for The Myth itself, as Calder himself points out, it still holds true as London did survive as did the majority of Londoners without becoming gibbering wrecks.

Many companies and organisations published war histories and some of these are surprisingly interesting and well-written, mainly because the bigger organisations were able to commission first rate authors to write these histories. War on the Line published in 1946 and written by Bernard Darwin is a history of the Southern Railway during the war and although the Southern covered a vast area of Southern England from Dover to Padstow, London features prominently within its pages and includes some fascinating personal accounts from railwaymen and women of the time. London Transport at War, originally published in 1946 as London Transport Carried On and written by Charles Graves covers the story of London’s buses, trams and tubes through the wartime years and again, contains some very good personal accounts as well as being very well illustrated. It slightly glosses over the initial difficulties caused by the tubes not being originally made available as shelters but since the book is an official history written just after the war, perhaps this can be forgiven.

There have been many biographies have been written about the personalities involved during the Blitz and the Battle of Britain. Vincent Orange has written two excellent biographies of the leading RAF protagonists of the Battle of Britain; Dowding of Fighter Command is an honest and well written account of the ‘Father of Fighter Command’ whilst the simply titled Park is a biography of Sir Keith Park, the head of 11 Group, Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and the man who was aptly christened ‘The Defender of London’ by the Germans of all people. It tells the story well of the jealousies and in-fighting within the RAF that was to lead to the dismissal of this wonderful man shortly after the Battle's conclusion but who was later to mastermind similar victories in Malta and later in the Far Eastern theatre against the Japanese.

So many books have been written about Winston Churchill, it is impossible to mention them all here. In my opinion, the best of them for sheer depth of research is Martin Gilbert’s voluminous biography Winston S Churchill of which Volume Six: Finest Hour 1939-41 published in 1989 extensively covers the Blitz period. An altogether easier to handle work on the great man is Churchill by Roy Jenkins published in 2001. This book covers the whole of Churchill’s life but there is a lengthy chapter on his Premiership during the Second World War.

There is one other book which does not really fit any of the above categories, such as they are and which goes to prove that Blitz Walking is nothing new. This book is called simply The Lost Treasures of London and was written by William Kent in 1947 when the Blitz was still very fresh in people's minds. It is a wonderful little book which consists of a series of walks through London linking those buildings, the treasures of the title, which were destroyed during the Second World War. William Kent's narrative vividly describes what was lost and when this occurred. It is beautifully illustrated and gives a startling insight into the London that might still have been had it not been for the intervention of Hitler and his Luftwaffe.

As has been mentioned earlier, this selection of books is very subjective and is certainly not exhaustive; when one has a library of over 200 books on the subject of the Second World War, of which a large proportion cover the Battle of Britain and Blitz periods, it is difficult if not impossible to mention all of them, save for presenting them in an uninspiring list but hopefully the above will give a good idea as to what to look out for. Some of the older books are now quite rare but given a bit of detective work and trawling of the internet, it is usually still possible to pick up most, if not all of the books referred to without costing a King’s Ransom.

There are many, many other fine pieces of writing, both old and new on the subject which have not been mentioned here due to the constraints of space but as mentioned earlier, I'd love to know your favourites on the subject.

Books referred to above:

Front Line 1940-41 - HMSO 1942
Carry on London! - Ritchie Calder, The English Universities Press 1941
Westminster in War - William Sansom, Faber & Faber 1947
The City that Wouldn't Die - Richard Collier, Collins 1959
Blitz - MJ Gaskin, Faber & Faber 2005
Backs to the Wall - Leonard Mosley, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1971
London at War 1939-45 - Philip Ziegler, Sinclair Stevenson 1995
The Blitz - Constantine FitzGibbon, Macdonald 1957
The Narrow Margin - Derek Wood with Derek Dempster, Tri-Service Press 1990
The People's War - Angus Calder, Jonathan Cape 1969
The Myth of The Blitz - Angus Calder, Jonathan Cape 1991
War on The Line - Bernard Darwin, Southern Railway 1946
London Transport at War - Charles Graves, Almark Publishing 1974
Dowding of Fighter Command - Vincent Orange, Grub Street 2008
Park - Vincent Orange, Methuen 1984
Winston S Churchill, Volume 6 Finest Hour 1940-41 - Martin Gilbert, Heinemann 1989
Churchill - Roy Jenkins, Macmillan 2001
The Lost Treasures of London - William Kent, Phoenix House 1947