Another local hero in Greenwich

The CWGC Memorial at Greenwich Cemetery (Author's Photo)

In the history of this blog, which is now in its twelfth year of existence, the post which seems to have prompted the most feedback is one that first appeared in December 2012 and which in itself was a rehash of a post that was originally written as a guest piece for another blog. The post concerned my own locality of Charlton in southeast London and the immediate surrounding area.

Back in February in the midst of the latest lockdown, I received another comment on this piece, this time from Martin Short, whose grandfather Lance Bombardier Henry W Short was killed whilst serving with 303 Battery, 26 Searchlight Regiment at the Maze Hill Searchlight Site on the edge of Blackheath on 23 June 1944 when a V-1 flying bomb exploded there.

Blackheath, in common with most of the other large parks and open spaces in London was the home to anti-aircraft and searchlight batteries, as well as a barrage balloon site. Similar locations at Woolwich Common, Plumstead Marshes, Southwark Park, Peckham Rye and just across the Thames on the Isle of Dogs and at Beckton were all home to heavy and light anti-aircraft batteries, as well as the accompanying searchlights. The heavy batteries, which were all part of the London Inner Artillery Zone (IAZ) would consist of 3.7", 4.5" or 5.25" guns which would concentrate on the higher flying aircraft, whilst the light batteries were concentrated on the 40mm rapid firing Bofors guns, which could deal with any incursions by lower flying fighter bomber types. Searchlights were an essential in illuminating the raiders at night, especially in the early days of the war before the introduction of gun-laying radar and the proximity fuze.

During the Blitz of 1940-41, the guns had had little impact, other than by perhaps boosting the morale of those on the ground, who did at least feel that the raiders were not dropping their bombs totally without challenge. By the time of Little Blitz in 1943 however, London boasted formidable anti-aircraft defences and these, combined with the night fighter force, took a heavy toll of the raiders.

Henry Short (back row, furthest right) and his colleagues from 303 Battery (Martin Short)

The onset of the flying bomb campaign on 13 June 1944 was something of a game-changer for the British anti-aircraft defences, for whilst the guns which were by now aided by gun-laying radar and equipped with proximity fuzes for their ammunition, could bring down the V-1s, shooting down a one tonne warhead over a heavily populated area was totally counter-productive and as a result, the guns and searchlights of the IAZ, as well as those elsewhere in southeast England, were relocated to the south coast some two weeks after the first of the missiles fell on England. Any V-1s shot down here could explode over open countryside and any of the missiles that evaded the guns and the barrage balloons (which had also been relocated), could then be left to Fighter Command's "anti-diver" patrols to deal with. So effective were these counter measures, that of the almost 10,500 V-1s launched towards Great Britain, only some 2,400 reached the Greater London area, although it must be stressed that these still caused great damage and loss of life.

One of those that did reach came before the redeployment of the guns and searchlights from the London IAZ and ironically, fell upon the Searchlight Site at Maze Hill, where Henry Short and his colleagues from 303 Battery were attempting to defend London from these very weapons.

Henry Short remembered on the Greenwich CWGC Memorial (Author's photo)

The War Diary for 26 Searchlight Regiment times the incident vaguely as being between 05:42 on 22 June and 05:42 the following day but the Civil Defence Incident Log for the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich gives us a precise time of 02:05 on the 23 June 1944. The incident log reports five fatal casualties, all military, whilst the War Diary reports "Lt. A Jullien and Lt. F.A.G. Smith wounded - 3 OR (other ranks) killed and 9 OR wounded. Lt Jullien died of wounds shortly after admission to hospital." The War Diary goes on to report, somewhat superfluously, "There was also severe damage to equipment."

These logs and diaries were written in the heat of the moment based on the information available but in reality, seven men were killed here:

Lieutenant Alfred Jullien
Serjeant Frank Lockwood
Gunner Albert Mason
Gunner Albert Rideout
Lance Bombardier Henry Short

Gunner Joseph Stevens
Serjeant John Travers

Henry Short was born in Basingstoke on 7 July 1905 and had moved to the Tooting area of London in 1909. Henry's father, who shared the same Christian name as his son, was described in the 1939 Register as a "Journeyman Tailor" and Henry junior followed in his father's footsteps to become part of the same profession. He had married Catherine Sparks in 1928 and had a son, Kenneth a year later.

Like many who saw that war was perhaps inevitable, Henry enlisted as a Territorial at Duke of York's HQ in Chelsea on 28 February 1939 and was mobilised shortly before the actual declaration. His trade as described in his Army Service Book was Driver Mechanic.

Serjeant Frank Lockwood remembered on the Greenwich CWGC Memorial (Author's photo)

Martin has kindly shared a photograph of his grandfather, who we see in the back row, top right of the image but sadly none of the other men are captioned, so it is quite possible that some of the other casualties are within this group.

Henry Short rests at Greenwich Cemetery in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot and is also commemorated on the screen wall of the 1939 - 1945 Memorial there, along with his colleague Frank Lockwood.

Unpublished Sources

26 Searchlight Regiment RA - Regimental War Diary - UK National Archives Kew WO 166/14864
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Civil Defence Incident Log

Martin Short family reminiscences

A George Medal Hero in Charlton

During the lockdown forced upon us by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I passed the time by writing up and producing a series of "virtual" Blitz Walks on Twitter, one of which covered my own local area of Charlton in Southeast London. One of the stories that came out at the time was that of Albert William Brittan, of the Greenwich Rescue Service, who was awarded a George Medal for his bravery in releasing victims trapped in a bombed house in Charlton Lane on 8 December 1940.

I had previously searched for a photograph of Albert at the National Archives and online but to no avail but was delighted recently when I chanced upon an edition of The Antiques Roadshow on BBC Television - not a programme I regularly watch - and saw an image of him appear, together with his medals, courtesy of his daughter who proudly told his story. As a result of this, I was able to take a screengrab of the photograph and can now tell his story a little more fully.

To begin with, we need to find out a little more about our hero; Albert William Brittan was born in 1904 to Amy Brittan (nee James) and her husband Joseph Brittan, a demolition worker. They lived at the family home in 41 Hamilton Street, Deptford. It was a large family, with Albert being one of five sons and with two sisters also living at home. Albert doesn't feature on the 1939 Register at that address, as he had married Emma Rose Roberts in 1929 and somehow seems to have slipped under the radar when the census was taken but three of the family are still at Hamilton Street; parents Joseph and Amy together with one of Albert's younger brothers, Sidney who is also listed as a demolition worker. This was obviously a family concern, for Albert's medal citation also shows this as his civilian occupation.

Albert William Brittan (centre) (screengrab from BBC Antiques Roadshow)

On the night of 8/9 December 1940, at approximately 02:40 close to where a level crossing takes the railway line from Woolwich Dockyard towards Charlton Station, two high explosive bombs fell on a terrace of houses located at 19/27 Charlton Lane. The incident log records "PEOPLE TRAPPED, 4 FATAL CASUALTIES, 6 TO HOSPITAL, 16 TO FIRST AID POST". 

It has to be remembered that this rather cold description was written in the heat of the moment, as were all such incident logs and is in fact, inaccurate in so far as five people lost their lives in this incident.

Albert Brittan's George Medal citation (author's image)

Shortly after the bomb fell, local Air Raid Wardens would have ascertained that persons were trapped in the ruins and it wasn't long before the Rescue Squad, under the command of 36-year-old Albert Brittan arrived on the scene. By this time, Albert was recorded as living at 14 Oxenham House, Benbow Street, Greenwich and had joined the Rescue Service soon after the outbreak of war. His experience as a demolition worker would no doubt have been of great benefit, given his knowledge of the construction of buildings.

On arrival at the scene, Brittan was informed that five people were trapped in the ruins of number 25 and soon worked out that they were trapped in the remains of the kitchen. He quickly set his squad to clearing as much of the debris as was safely possible and then entered the building himself. He was soon able to rescue a baby and after passing the infant to his colleagues, he went back into the ruins and after moving a door and beams obstructing his passage, he was able to rescue the baby's mother and carried her out of the building. Returning inside, he next freed a young girl and also recovered the body of an elderly lady. Shortly after re-entering the building yet again, the roof partially collapsed and almost trapped Albert but he persisted in his work, all the time whilst other bombs were falling and anti-aircraft shell fragments were falling in the vicinity.

After some five hours in the ruined house, he was finally able to rescue the final trapped person, a man who had been pinned down by floor joists. Once he rescued him, only then was Brittan satisfied that all of the occupants had been rescued. His hands were cut and bleeding and needed to be dressed by a doctor from a nearby First Aid Post, who happened to be Dr John Montgomery, Club Doctor of  Charlton Athletic Football Club, as well as being the Company Doctor at Siemen's (a large local employer at that time) and a future director at The Valley. Montgomery was one of the witnesses to Albert Brittan's recommendation for an award and was well qualified to do this, having no doubt witnessed his efforts at first-hand. 

Recommendation for Albert Brittan's award (author's image)

In total, thanks to the efforts of Albert Brittan and the other members of his Rescue Squad, seven of the twelve people they rescued between them came out alive and all subsequently survived. The five that lost their lives are listed at the bottom of the article.

Dr John Montgomery (centre in wing collar) (Charlton Athletic Museum)

Brittan was recommended for a George Medal by the London County Council, with the recommendation endorsed by Mr Tinslay, Officer in Charge of the Greenwich Rescue Service and by Dr John Montgomery of the Valley First Aid Post, with the award confirmed and gazetted in the London Gazette dated 25 April 1941. The citation concludes thus:

"Brittan was under the debris for five hours without relief and displayed initiative, resource and a high courage. Through his exertions, four persons were rescued alive."

The site of the bombed houses in Charlton Lane (Paul Chapman)

The bombed terrace of houses in Charlton Lane were never rebuilt after the war and today the site forms part of the grounds of Pound Park School but in a way, this is an apt memorial to the five who perished here as well as to the heroic efforts of Albert Brittan and his Rescue Squad who ensured that seven others lived to tell the tale.

I haven't yet been able to ascertain any real details of what Albert did subsequently but he appears to have died, aged only 46, on 31 October 1952 in Greenwich, leaving Emma Rose as his widow. One can only speculate whether his early death was due in some way to his dangerous work as a demolition contractor in an era when health and safety practices were largely absent in the workplace.

In remembrance of those who died here on the night of 8/9 December 1940:

Rachel Miekle Cumming, aged 72, of 27 Charlton Lane

Sidney Martin, aged 32, of 27 Charlton Lane

Florence Lilian Maud Budden, aged  37, of 25 Charlton Lane

Gertrude Budden, aged 59, of 25 Charlton Lane

Desmond Charles Lambert, aged 17, of 23 Charlton Lane

Postscript - 26 October 2020 - I have now been contacted by Keith Budden, aged 81 who was one of those pulled from the ruins of 25 Charlton Lane by the Rescue Squad, although in his case not by Albert Brittan. Keith too saw the Antiques Roadshow and was alerted to my blog post by a friend. Keith tells me that Barry Martin, then just seven months old and who was the baby rescued by Albert Brittan, is also still with us, aged 80. Both men subsequently married and have children and grandchildren, none of which would have been possible without the heroism of Albert Brittan GM and his rescue squad.

Both the Budden and Martin families, who counted amongst those rescued, as well as victims, are inextricably linked with the early history of Charlton Athletic FC and indeed a future Charlton legend, Brian Kinsey was related via marriage to the Budden family although he was not present in Charlton Lane on the night in question, as at that time he was living in nearby Priolo Road.

Published Sources:

The London Gazette - dated 25 April 1941

Unpublished Sources:

Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Civil Defence Incident Log 1939 - 1945

Home Office Inter-Departmental Committee on Civil Defence Gallantry Awards, Case No. 843 - HO 250/19/843 - UK National Archives, Kew

The First Day of the Blitz in Greenwich

Luftwaffe reconnaissance photo taken in the early evening of Saturday 7 September 1940 (author's collection) 

The above photo was taken from a Luftwaffe aircraft during the early evening of Saturday 7 September 1940 - "Black Saturday" as Londoners came to call it - the first day of the London Blitz and an afternoon and evening never to be forgotten by anybody who experienced it. The annotations are mine as I wanted to mark some local landmarks to the image as 7 September was a day that impacted upon my family, as it did on many thousands of people across the eastern half of London, on both sides of the Thames.

My late Mother was one of those affected by the events of the day, in so far as she had been working at Woolwich Arsenal until lunchtime in her job at the Pay Office there. Although a half day on Saturday was the normal order of things, she quite often had to work a full day but fortunately on this day, her work was completed in time for a scheduled departure at 13:00. Had she left later in the afternoon, she could well have been caught up in the events there later.

In the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, the first incident was recorded at exactly 17:00 at 38, 59 and 61 Basildon Road, Abbey Wood, with a High Explosive (HE) bomb as well as a Delayed Action device (DAB) reported. Nos 59 and 61 were reported as completely demolished and a large fire burning out of control, although happily with no casualties. The LCC Bomb Damage Map for Basildon Road confirms that the two houses towards the top left of the road (between the 'L' and 'D' on the map) were damaged beyond repair and a look at Streetview today confirms this, with a much newer property (no. 61) in the space left by the two destroyed houses. This much more modern building coupled with the fact that the house numbers jump from 57 to 61 without a no. 59, tells the present-day looker what happened here.

LCC Bomb Map for Basildon Road (author's image)

The "new" no. 61 Basildon Road fills the space left by the destroyed 59 & 61 (Google Streetview)

Things soon began to deteriorate in the borough and by 17:50 buildings in the Woolwich Dockyard were well on fire. This is the huge column of smoke that can be seen at the top centre of the photograph at the head of this page. The Incident Log tells us "Major Fire, 30 pumps in service, one casualty dealt with locally. Commonwealth Buildings - three buildings on fire, only 2 pumps on spot." Clearly a dangerous situation as the Dockyard was by then being used by the Woolwich Arsenal for the storage of ordnance, amongst other things. Fortunately, this fire was brought under control before things got out of hand, although the fires at Commonwealth Buildings were still alight at 21:00. Elsewhere in the borough, casualties began to mount - two mortuary vans were required for an incident in Plumstead High Street at 17:52, whilst a direct hit on a shelter in Wickham Lane, near the 'Foresters Arms' pub saw two women, together with a boy and a girl killed. There was no let-up as the evening progressed and the raiders returned; four further fatalities were reported at Lakedale Road, including an AFS Station Officer, Frederick Tierney.

So it continued, throughout the early hours of the 8th with no respite - in total 92 incidents appear in the log for the night of 7/8 September, whilst across the borough boundary in Greenwich a similar story was developing.

In Greenwich, the first incident was not reported until 17:50 in Ordnance Crescent with "many IBs" (incendiary bombs) being the terse comment on the log. At 18:00 in Kidbrooke Grove (initially wrongly reported as Kidbrooke Gardens) we see the words "RAF parachutist badly injured" - this is Flight Lieut Richard Reynell who sadly was dead following the non-deployment of his parachute and whose story has been covered in this blog on several occasions, most recently in August 2017.

As in Woolwich, events intensified as the evening progressed - the first civilian fatality was reported at Armada Street in Greenwich at 18:15, whilst four minutes later, there is a report of an "aeroplane down" in Victoria Way, Charlton although I haven't yet been able to glean any further details of this, including whether it was a friendly or an enemy machine. At 22:56, the Johnson & Phillips cable factory in Victoria Way is also reported hit, with one building in danger of collapse, which seems to have occurred later when looking at the photographs taken later the following morning.

Damage to the Johnson & Phillips cable factory in Charlton (Greenwich Heritage)

Collapsed building at Johnson & Phillips (Greenwich Heritage)

The raid continued into the early hours, although in Greenwich there were slightly fewer incidents,  with 64 recorded by the local ARP Service. Fatal casualties in Greenwich amounted to 25, compared to 69 across the borough border in Woolwich. It was a bad night for London with some 400 civilians killed and was the precursor of fifty seven consecutive nights when London was bombed and of a wider Blitz across all major British towns and cities which would last until the spring of 1941.


Published Sources:

The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps 1939 - 1945, editor Laurence Ward - Thames & Hudson 2015

Unpublished Sources: 

Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Civil Defence Incident Logs
Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich Civil Defence Incident Logs

Hitler Passed This Way

Amongst my collection of Blitz-related books is Hitler Passed This Way, a collection of 170 photographs from the London Evening News, which older readers may remember from a time when our capital city had not one, but three evening newspapers - the Evening News, the Evening Standard and The Star.

The booklet takes the form mainly of a series of 'before and after' shots of various buildings in London destroyed during the Blitz and subsequent V-Weapons campaigns. This anthology was published in late 1945 when memories of these events were still very fresh in the minds of Londoners and the linking text is very much of this time and not surprisingly, makes no mention of the fact that the RAF had until very recently been meting out the same sort of indiscriminate treatment, only on a much greater scale, to German civilians that is described in the book thus:

"Many times from September 1940 until March 1945, did Hitler single out London for his major effort of destruction. The docks, the City, the east end, the west end, north and south London, the railways, the bridges and the suburbs, all had their nights of high explosive bombs, great and small. Night after night Hitler rained incendiary bombs on London. He dropped huge land mines by parachute to wipe out whole districts. To make certain the killing of large numbers of non-combatants, women and children alike, he employed delayed action bombs of devilish ingenuity."

The mood of the British public had not yet mellowed following six years of war and the full impact of the destruction of German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden by the RAF had not been fully realised. At somewhere in the region of 42,000, the death toll from the Gomorrah raids on Hamburg in late July and early August 1943 had comfortably exceeded the 30,000 of London for the entire war and yet no mention is made of this aspect of the war that the British public were still happy to conveniently brush under the carpet at this point.

Taking this aspect aside, the photographs offer a fascinating view of a long-vanished London and whilst it would be unfair to reproduce more than a handful of photographs here, an interesting game of "then and then and now" can be played at some of the locations featured in the images.

"Before and After" views of the Cordwainers Hall (from Hitler Passed This Way)

Looking towards St Paul's with the ruined Cordwainers Hall (author's collection)

The same view today (Google streetview)

The above three photos of the Cordwainers' Hall in Cannon Street show how in many cases, new views of London were opened up by the Blitz. The Cordwainers' Hall that was destroyed on the night of 10/11 May 1941 only dated from 1909 but contained many relics and artefacts from the previous Halls on this site. These included chimney pieces and wooden escutcheon pieces which had survived the Great Fire of 1666, only to fall victim 275 years later. Fortunately, other items such as various portraits and silver plate had been stored off site and were therefore saved. The loss of the Cordwainers' Hall opened up a new vista of St Paul's Cathedral and the area is now a pleasant open space that is much loved by City workers as a summer lunch venue.

Another victim of the events of 10/11 May 1941 was the International Headquarters or "IHQ" of the Salvation Army, located then as now, at 101 Queen Victoria Street. On this, the heaviest night of bombing that London saw during the entire war, the firefighters were hindered by a strong wind, which was unusually blowing from the east, rather than the prevailing westerly wind. This was driving the fires westwards along Queen Victoria Street, threatening Faraday House, which at that time housed the largest telephone exchange in the world, including international lines and a radio link with Washington DC. A fortunate change of wind direction saved Faraday House but not before IHQ was consumed by the flames. There was one tragic incident whilst efforts were being made to save the building - one Salvation Army worker rushed out of the building, tripped over a fallen telephone cable and was run over and killed by a passing Fire Engine. There were the usual scenes of quiet heroism here too, with a Salvation Army canteen van serving refreshments to the army of Civil Defence workers fighting to save IHQ and Faraday House. One firefighter, George Woodhouse from Holloway noticed:

"The two Salvation Army lasses were handing out cups of tea and biscuits as if it were a Sunday School outing. They appeared to be completely unaware of the bombs falling all around them. I often wondered what the word 'courage' meant, but on that night, those two lasses had it in abundance."

101 Queen Victoria Street before the events of 10/11 May 1941 (from Hitler Passed This Way)

The ruined site (from Hitler Passed This Way)

The modern replacement (Google Streetview)

Today, 101 Queen Victoria Street is still home to the IHQ of the Salvation Army but it is now a modern steel and glass building, although still on a similar scale to that of it's predecessor.

Sometimes the views of 1940 and today cannot easily be compared. Today, residents of Greenwich and visitors alike are accustomed to seeing the Cutty Sark, the last surviving British tea clipper and a long-term fixture in Greenwich. It was not always the case though; the site in King William Walk was once occupied by a large public house, The Ship Hotel, which was renowned for serving freshly caught whitebait suppers, often complimented with champagne. The hotel attracted a varied clientele, including government ministers and members of the judiciary. It had already begun to fall upon hard times, when on the night of 1 November 1940, it received a direct hit from a high explosive bomb, completely destroying the premises. Today, the site would be unrecognisable and is another example of a new vista being opened up by the bombs.

The Ship Hotel 'Before and After' (from Hitler Passed This Way'

The site today (Google Streetview)

Sometimes though, it isn't possible to provide any sort of 'then and now' perspective, for the simple reason that the neighbourhoods that were bombed simply ceased to exist. There are examples of this in the East End of London but one which is covered in Hitler Passed This Way is particularly poignant.

'The Monster' public house in Sutherland Terrace, Pimlico (from Hitler Passed This Way)

If one looks for Sutherland Terrace in Pimlico today, it does not exist, for it was completely wiped out on the night of 16/17 April 1941. Inspection of a pre-war A to Z Atlas reveals Sutherland Terrace about halfway up the page, running between Sutherland Street and Cumberland Street, forming what must have been a slightly confusing crossroads with Winchester Street. A glance at the present day Google Streetview shows no trace of Sutherland Terrace. Such was the ferocity of the bombing that the terrace was obliterated, complete with it's once famous public house, the splendidly named 'Monster' of which we see 'Before and After' views in the book. It was a bad night in Westminster, with 148 killed, 173 high explosive bombs, seven parachute mines and a community destroyed.

Sutherland Terrace in 1939

The same location today (Google Streetview)

Hitler Passed This Way is still fairly easily available today and provides fascinating images of a bygone London, not only during wartime but also during the more peaceful years immediately prior to the Second World War.

Published Sources:

Hitler Passed This Way - The Evening News, 1945
The Longest Night - Gavin Mortimer; Cassell, 2005

Dickie Reynell, Black Saturday and eye-witness accounts

Flt Lt RC Reynell RAF (Shoreham Museum)

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I have written on a couple of occasions abour Flight Lieutenant Richard Carew Reynell RAF, an Australian pilot who died many thousands of miles from home, helping to defend London on 7th September 1940 during the Battle of Britain and who was shot down just a mile or so along the road from where I now live. As a result of my original piece back in February 2012 I was contacted by Andrew Rennie, a friend of the Reynell family back in Australia who is putting together a book on Dickie's life. We have kept in contact over the years and were finally able to meet in June 2013 when the Shoreham Aircraft Museum unveiled their monument to Dickie at Crown Point in Blackheath, not too far from the spot where his Hurricane crashed and where Dickie's body was discovered.

On Andrew's visit in 2013, he had gleaned information that perhaps Richard's body had been found at a different location to that originally reported in the Civil Defence Incident Log and seeing as this information came from what was thought to be a reliable source, we set about trying to piece together the latest threads of information. We were told that Richard's body had been found by a passer-by not at Kidbrooke Grove as shown in the Civil Defence records but in Dartmouth Row, on the opposite side of Blackheath and quite a considerable distance from the original recorded spot. The source shall remain nameless so as to avoid embarrassment but his information had supposedly been corroborated by an eye-witness. The location of the wreckage of Dickie's Hurricane V7257 had been spread across the heath, with the largest portions, including the engine, falling through the roof of St Ursula's Convent, so this much at least could not be disputed.

I have always had a great suspicion of "eye-witness" accounts and think that certain authors and researchers place a great over-emphasis on their importance. These accounts are all well and good if there are several of them and they broadly agree in their description of events. They are also generally reliable if they emanate from a trained observer, such as a Police Officer or a serviceman or woman but those written long after the event from someone whose memories may be faded have to treated with the utmost caution - these people sometimes tell one what one wishes to hear, or what they think might have happened but say it with great authority. Sadly, many of these "authentic" accounts prove to be unreliable to say the least and so it proved with the information given to Andrew.

The National Archives are in the process of gradually releasing the Casualty Branch enquiries into deceased airmen from the Second World War and when news of these became known to Andrew and myself, we anxiously awaited the release of the pack containing Dickie's details. The first batch was released in 2014 and infuriatingly for us at that time, only included details for casualties up to and including 31st August 1940 - so near and yet so far!

Almost three years were to elapse, with many enquiries as to their release dead batted away by the National Archives until the next tranche were finally released in July of this year and this time, we were not disappointed. The documents were ordered and a visit to Kew was made a few weeks ago. The file contained a great deal of correspondence, including copies of telegrams sent from the Air Ministry to Dickie's wife and family, letters from his employers the Hawker Aircraft Company enquiring about arrangements for obtaining a Death Certificate and most importantly from our point of view, a genuine eye-witness account, not from someone supposedly recalling events from thirty or so years' distance but from a Staff Sergeant Deeley of the Royal Army Pay Corps, who had been walking across Blackheath towards Shooter's Hill Road on 7 September 1940, when he witnessed the aircraft crashing and Dickie's partially opened parachute falling. After running for a short time, he commandeered a passing van and both he and the driver arrived on the scene of the incident at the same time as a Police Officer, PC Cochran from Lee Green Police Station.

This account, written by a trained observer, confirms that the original Civil Defence report was indeed correct and that Dickie's body was discovered in the garden at 3 Kidbrooke Grove, which was incidentally the residence of Commander HP Mead RN, who happened to be at home at the time of the incident. Dickie appeared to have been wounded in the chest and had crashed through a garden bench when he hit the ground. According to the report "Life was extinct and the body was removed to the Royal Herbert Military Hospital, Woolwich."

Andrew recently visited the UK once again, so on a rainy August day, we met in Blackheath and took ourselves to 3 Kidbrooke Grove and on the spur of the moment, in a fine display of Australian forthrightness, Andrew knocked on the door. We were greeted by the present owner of the house, Chris Richards, to whom we introduced ourselves and who was astonished to learn of the events of some seventy seven years ago in his back garden. Chris is a war gamer and has a keen knowledge of military history, so was fascinated to learn what had happened. Over a cup of coffee, Chris showed us his back garden and we were able to perhaps imagine what is must have been like in September 1940 with an air battle raging overhead, bombs falling and the terrible sight and sound of a fighter pilot's body suddenly arriving in one's garden.

To provide some wider background, I can do no better than include a slightly re-edited version of my original 2013 blog post which covered the day's events.

The raid on London of 7th September 1940 was what RAF Bomber Command and the US 8th Air Force would later call a 'Maximum Effort' raid. Goering deployed 348 bombers escorted by 617 Bf109 and Bf110 fighters. They were basically in one massive formation heading towards London at between 14,000 and 23,000 feet. It was no exaggeration to say that this huge force filled the skies and they must have presented an awe-inspiring sight to the defending Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of 11 Group, Fighter Command sent up to meet them. It was no wonder that Londoners were to dub this day 'Black Saturday' such was the intensity of the assault upon the capital.

43 Squadron Crest - Gloria Finis

The first two squadrons to intercept the attackers were the auxiliaries from 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron and the 'regular' 43 Squadron, known as 'The Fighting Cocks' from their squadron badge. Three of 43's Hurricanes went in against the fighters, whilst the other six, led by the Squadron commander, the Rhodesian Caesar Hull, along with Dickie Reynell and Pilot Officer Alan Deller, took on the bombers. The engagements lasted all the way from the Sussex coast and even after they had exhausted their ammunition continued to harass the bombers as best as they could by making mock attacks. Hull shot down two Dorniers but was eventually shot down by an escorting fighter and crashed in the grounds of Purley Grammar School in Surrey, whilst Dickie's Hurricane exploded over Blackheath and he fell to earth without his parachute having deployed. Deller too was shot down but managed to bale out out of his blazing Hurricane and lived to fight another day. When John Kilmartin, leader of the rear section that had attacked the fighters landed, he could only mutter the words "My God, My God!"

Although the RAF quickly recovered it's equilibrium, Black Saturday was arguably the closest that Fighter Command came to being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Air Vice Marshal Park of 11 Group had called upon the neighbouring 12 Group for assistance as per the well tried system within Fighter Command but as often happened, the 'Big Wing' took far too long to formate and to compound this delay, the leader of the Duxford Wing, Douglas Bader ignored the instructions of his controller and took his wing to patrol at 15,000 feet over North Weald instead of at 10,000 and whilst engaging a formation of bombers were 'bounced' by the escorting fighters which shot down or damaged six Hurricanes. The 'Big Wing' concept was unwieldy and on this day, was also hindered by communications breakdowns that slowed it's deployment still further. Despite all of this, pro and anti 'Big Wing' attitudes in the RAF would harden in the coming months.

The unveiled memorial stone

At the end of the day's fighting, the Germans had lost only fourteen bombers, or 4% of the attacking force but had lost twenty three of the escorting fighters, which had sacrificed themselves in protecting the bomber force. It had been a bad day for Fighter Command, losing twenty six fighters and more importantly six of their pilots. Despite this attrition, the odds still favoured the RAF; their pilots that survived being shot down were over friendly territory and were usually quickly returned to the fray, whilst the Luftwaffe pilots were either killed or taken prisoner. Furthermore, by switching their attention to London, the Luftwaffe were no longer attacking the RAF's airfields.

London had already suffered grievously and with the Luftwaffe returning under cover of darkness to re-stoke the fires, the coming of the dawn would see 412 Londoners dead, with a further 747 seriously injured. To add to the confusion, somebody had issued an invasion alert - the codeword Cromwell had been issued and the church bells in some areas had been rung. Fortunately, this was a false alarm and the fuss soon died down. From now onwards though, London would be the Luftwaffe's main target and would suffer by night. There would be one more attempt to mount a major daylight raid - this would come just over a week later and would result in a vastly different outcome, although this is another story.

As a result of their mauling on 7th September and earlier losses during the Battle of Britain, 43 Squadron was withdrawn from the action and sent to recuperate at RAF Usworth, near Sunderland in 13 Group, Fighter Command. The squadron had been decimated and could only muster thirteen pilots, of whom six were recent postings from the Operational Training Units. Of the survivors, only John Kilmartin had any significant experience, so although the withdrawal was a painful blow for this proud squadron to bear, it was undoubtedly the correct decision. 43 Squadron's time would come again, in November 1942 as part of the Desert Air Force and in liberated France in 1944, where they became known to the local French populace as Les Coqs Anglais. Moving into the jet age, the squadron operated Meteors and Hunters in the 1950s, Phantoms in the 70s and 80s, before receiving Tornados in 1989. The squadron saw service in both Gulf Wars before standing down in 2009 as part of one of the seemingly endless rounds of defence cutbacks. The squadron is earmarked to reform as a Eurofighter Typhoon squadron at some point in the near future but whether this actually ever happens remains to be seen.

The memorial stone before unveiling

The 2013 ceremony for Dickie Reynell was a simple but moving affair organised by the Shoreham Aircraft Museum in Kent, as part of their ongoing project to place a memorial at or near the site of every Battle of Britain pilot lost within a ten mile radius of the museum. The service was attended by the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Cllr Angela Cornforth as well as many members of the Reynell family, representatives from the Australian Embassy, RAAF and the RAF and of course many volunteers from the Shoreham Aircraft Museum as well as a decent turn out of members of the local Blackheath and Greenwich public who braved the rain and who wished to honour this brave man who died helping to defend the city that we all love and the freedom that we enjoy today. 

Andrew Rennie tells us about Dickie's final mission

Family friend Andrew Rennie, whose book on Dickie will doubtless make fascinating reading, gave a moving account of Richard's last sortie and of the events of the afternoon of September 7th. The memorial stone was then unveiled by Monsignor Nicholas Rothon of St Mary's Church Blackheath, Wing Commander Tony O'Leary of the RAAF and by David Caillard RAF (retired), who is a great nephew of Dickie Reynell. Following the unveiling ceremony, David gave a moving and insightful speech about Dickie Reynell and of his family's continuing pride in his achievements, not only during the Battle of Britain but in his pre-war service with the RAF and also as a test pilot for Hawker's, in which he did much valuable work in perfecting the RAF's first monoplane fighter and which was the real workhorse of the Battle of Britain, along with it's more glamorous half-sister, the Spitfire.

Members of the Reynell family by the memorial

From all accounts, Richard Reynell was not only a brave man, he was fine pilot and a decent person too, who had a kind word of encouragement for all and who was widely liked by not only his family but by his extended family within the RAF, in Hawkers and in the aircraft industry. It was a sad twist of fate that he had been recalled by Hawkers on 7th September 1940 but had chosen to see out the day's operations before returning to his normal work as a test pilot.

The City that Richard Reynell died whilst defending

When reflecting on Dickie Reynell and his contemporaries within the RAF during the Battle of Britain, one can only echo the words of Winston Churchill - "Never was so much owed by so many, to so few."

Unpublished Sources:

National Archives - AIR81/3127 Air Ministry P4 Casualty Branch Flight Lieutenant RC Reynell 

Published Sources:

The Most Dangerous Enemy - Stephen Bungay, Aurum Press 2000

The Narrow Margin - Derek Wood with Derek Dempster. Tri-Service Press 1990

The Wrens and The Royal Naval College, Greenwich

A familiar view (author's photo)

As regular readers of this blog will know by now, I'm a Southeast Londoner, born in Greenwich and continue to be a proud resident of the Royal Borough of Greenwich as we are now honoured to be called.

Centrepiece of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Old Royal Naval College, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, built between 1696 and 1712 and originally designed to serve as the Greenwich Hospital, a home for retired and disabled sailors, in which role the magnificent buildings served until 1869. It was established as The Royal Naval College in 1873 and was designed to act as a centre for further education of officers - indeed it was described as "The University of The Navy" and over the years became an established part of officer training within the Senior Service. In October 1939, it gained a new function when the training of officers of the Womens Royal Naval Service, the WRNS or Wrens as they were affectionately known, began to be undertaken here.

The WRNS had originally been established in 1917 during the First World War and having been established solely as a wartime expedient, was disbanded in 1919. The coming of a new conflict in 1939 saw the WRNS re-born with a greatly expanded list of duties on offer for new recruits, which included piloting aircraft on ferry duties, acting as mechanics for a vast range of equipment and serving aboard small boats such as harbour launches. In their new incarnation, the Wrens made an invaluable contribution to the running of the Royal Navy.

They were again perhaps seen as a temporary expedient for wartime and one of their wartime recruiting posters which proclaimed "Join the Wrens - and Free a Man for the Fleet" tended to support this feeling. This time however, the sterling work done by the Wrens during wartime, ensured that they had a role to play in the peacetime Navy and the training of new officers continued at Greenwich until 1976. Over the years, the WRNS gradually became more and more integrated within the main service. The first Wrens served at sea from October 1990 in HMS Brilliant and in 1993, achieved complete integration with the Royal Navy when the WRNS was abolished as a separate service. 

Join The Wrens (author's collection)

Sadly, since the war, a succession of governments have suffered from "sea blindness" and have taken any possible opportunity to slash the defence budget, especially that of the Royal Navy and one of the consequences of this was the closure of the Royal Naval College as a service establishment in 1998. Fortunately, the buildings continue to serve in an educational function, today being home to the University of Greenwich as well as the Trinity Laban College of Music.

To mark the centenary of the establishment of the WRNS and acknowledging the important role played by the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, a special exhibition - WRNS Untold Stories: The Women's Royal Naval Service at Greenwich - is being held at The Visitor Centre until 5 December 2017 and I was fortunate enough to pay a visit to this fascinating exhibition last week.

The exhibition tells the story through a mixture of film, still photography and oral histories of how the Wrens overcame initial skepticism and sometimes downright hostility in a predominantly male environment, to win the respect and affection of their colleagues. During the First World War, they were given menial tasks such as serving as cooks, drivers and telephonists, thus releasing men to serve with the fleet but as mentioned previously, during the WRNS' second incarnation, in the Second World War, the roles given to the Wrens were far more varied and responsible.

W/T Operator (author's image from the exhibition)

Torpedo Wren (author's image from the exhibition)

To emphasise this growth in the range of roles available, the exhibition is illustrated by some delightful drawings showing some of the new roles given to the young Wrens, which must have seemed completely alien to the vast majority of the new recruits. We also see some newsreel footage of the time shot at Greenwich showing the Wrens in some of their more traditional roles, such as cooking and being taught how to cater for large numbers of hungry sailors. Other new responsibilities for the Wrens included jobs such as Radio Operators, Meterologists, Cypher Officers and Boat Crews.

Sadly, as with all service personnel in wartime, there were casualties and the worst incident came when the ss Aguila bound for Gibraltar, was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of twenty one Wrens who were heading for their first overseas posting as Cypher Officers. The author Nicholas Monsarrat, aluded to this tragedy when he included a similar incident in his masterful novel on the Battle of the Atlantic, The Cruel Sea.

The wartime training at Greenwich had to contend with the Blitz and the building attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe on several occasions. Perhaps the most notable incident came on 20 January 1943 during one of the so-called Tip and Run raids following the main Night Blitz of 1940-41, when the Admiral's House in King Charles Court was bombed with the loss of life of a Royal Navy Officer, Commander Alexander Reginald Chalmer. This was a day when for some unaccountable reason, the capital's balloon barrage was not deployed and the FW190 fighter-bombers used on the raid were also able to bomb Sandhurst Road School in Catford at low level, killing thirty eight children and six staff. The attackers also machine-gunned the streets of Greenwich and Charlton, with one eye-witness claiming that he could "see the pilot grinning as he gunned up the tram yard."

The Admiral's House after the bombing on 20 January 1943 (author's collection)

In 1949 with the war over, it was decided that the WRNS would continue as a part of the peacetime Royal Navy and the exhibition continues to tell the stories of the peacetime training that took place at the Royal Naval College right up until 1976, when the training of Wren officers was transferred to the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth.

A group of Wrens being shown around the Painted Hall in 1961 (author's collection)

In closing, I feel it appropriate to include below, the following piece which was written by Second Officer Nancy Spain WRNS in 1945 about her experiences in joining the Wrens during the winter of 1940/41. The experiences Nancy Spain refers to are relevent to the exhibition and as I was born and grew up within a stone's throw of the Royal Naval College, I make no apologies for repeating it verbatim below, with acknowledgements of course.

"The lorry stopped inside a courtyard, I think, where dusk was already falling and I saw nothing but a dark hall and cold grey stones and a strip of carpet and the superintendent of the OTC reading out names from a list held in the left hand.

This moment was not altogether a shock to me. The superintendent had once taught me history at school when I was eleven years old and I was prepared for her to be there, as she was for me.

She nodded at me as she called my name and I knew that the years had not impaired her perception, nor the war her kindliness, nor circumstances her friendly interest in human nature. Just the same, I felt she knew there was a hole in my stocking. But the moments that followed. They were like a blow between my eyes.

Like many people in England, many Wrens indeed, I was still unaware of much of the inheritance that Nelson, Drake, Frobisher, Raleigh and the rest, fought for and held for us serenely and splendidly over five centuries."

Second Officer Nancy Spain WRNS

"Until the moment that I walked out into the January dusk and saw the white Palladian colonnades and domes of which Samuel Pepys wrote "The King (Charles II) is mightily pleased with his new building", I was almost unaware of Greenwich.

But that evening, rising from the snow, like a conception of God rather than of man, all English history spread itself before my eyes.

The history of England, of which Nelson is a part and which I, and so many others like me, had taken for granted. And I knew that I too, should in future feel a sense of responsibility.

So, with Pepys, to dinner.

A joy, the selection of a table napkin from the pigeon-holed erection under the blind, marble stare of Nelson and St Vincent....and then....the Painted Hall, for which no contemporary eulogy, nor nineteenth century engraving, had wholly prepared me.

How could I know what I ate, under the lovely, silly paintings of Sir James Thornhill, from the perfect copies of Queen Anne tables, carved from the timbers of ships that had fought at Trafalgar, that had sailed against the enemies of England. The lights blazing from a thousand points in silver candlesticks, again 'after' Queen Anne, seemed limelight as much as illumination. The echoing floor, the lofty grandeur of the high tables under rarer, sillier paintings recalled the cold to me.

It certainly was cold.

And what was that?

We had to sleep in the air raid shelter?

Well....well.

And sure enough, through the Painted Hall there echoed the sound of the guns from Woolwich. England's enemies, at it again.

The Blitz punctuated the whole of that fortnight. It held up our trains, it disturbed our sleep, it smashed the buildings around us, it sent us to bed at 2200 hours like a lot of gloomy, eiderdown-trailing sheep, but it did one good thing, for me at any rate. It made me appreciate still more the beauty and power of those buildings which mere Luftwaffes could not damage."

The exhibition encourages visits from past members of the WRNS and features a 'Memory Board' at which former Wrens who trained at Greenwich are asked to share their reminiscences and experiences.

The exhibition, to which entry is free and which runs until 5 December 2017, is well worth an hour of anyone's time and I would thoroughly recommend a visit either as part of a wider day spent in Greenwich, or as a stand alone visit.

Internet Sources:

WRNS Untold Stories website 

Printed Sources:

Red Alert - Lewis Blake, self-published, 1982

Thank You, Nelson - Nancy Spain, Hutchinson 1945

Out of the Ruins

The 1950 Ordnance Survey Map of Greenwich Town Centre (Dave Wood)

Regular readers of this blog may remember that back in February of this year, we looked at a fascinating photograph that had been provided by Dave Wood @liverpoolimages of Enderby's Wharf, taken immediately post-war in 1946 and how we were able to compare the photograph with the LCC Bomb Damage Map as well as the same view today.

Dave has now posted another image, this time of an Ordnance Survey Map of Greenwich Town Centre dating from 1950, which regularly features the slightly enigmatic description "ruin" on the map. Given the date of the map, it is apparent that the ruins are in fact, bomb damaged buildings and following on from the Enderby Wharf exercise, it might be interesting to compare Dave's OS Map image with the ARP Incident Log, photos of the bomb damage and how it compares to the Bomb Damage Maps for the area.

Aerial view of Greenwich Town Centre immediately post-war, almost certainly taken from the Town Hall clocktower (Author's collection)

What is just as significant as the ruins marked on the OS Map is perhaps what isn't shown; in 1950 there are large areas of emptiness in what was before the war and what is today a thriving built up area. These empty spaces are bomb sites, of which there were plenty in London in the immediate post-war years, some even surviving into the 1970s and 80s. The LCC Bomb Damage Maps for the area are held at the Greenwich Heritage Centre along with the Civil Defence Incident Logs that this author spent many hours transcribing some years ago. These resources are invaluable in translating the basic information on the Ordance Survey Maps into showing exactly which buildings were damaged and at what level of damage.

Greenwich Town Centre Bomb Map (Author's image from original at Greenwich Heritage Centre)

Luckily, as Greenwich has been well photographed over the years, we are able to compare the maps with photographs taken immediately after the war which graphically show the amount of damage incurred by German bombs during the Blitz of 1940-41 and subsequent V-Weapons Campaigns of 1944-45.

Therefore, if we start just below the centre of the two maps, we can see Nicholas Hawksmoor's St Alfege Church of 1718 clearly marked on the OS Map and at first glance all seems well. Compare this however with the Bomb Damage Map and we see that the church is marked in light red, signifying "Seriously Damaged, Repairable at Cost." An examination of the photograph, in which the roof of the church can be seen (unfortunately the spire is out of shot) towards the top left of the image, shows that the roof of the church is still showing signs of wartime damage, with repairs still at an early stage. The church was damaged on several occasions during the Blitz but the killer blow came on the night of 19 March 1941 when the church was gutted by Incendiary Bombs which lodged in the roof timbers, eventually causing the entire roof to plummet into the church itself where the fire burned out of control for some time. There was also an Oil Bomb reported exploding in the Churchyard on the night of 10/11 May 1941 but this seems to have done little if any damage. Happily, the church was rebuilt under the direction of Sir Albert Richardson and re-consecrated in 1953 and continues today to be an important spiritual centre of the community.

Looking at Dave's OS Map, we can see that directly opposite the church, the only building shown is a bank, in 1946 the Westminster Bank but today a Natwest branch. There is a large fallow area either side of the bank and this can be confirmed by looking at the Bomb Map, which shows many buildings coloured in black, which indicates "Total Destruction." This is interesting, because closer examination of the 1946 photograph shows that the bank building is actually still standing, although there is obvious damage both to it and to pretty much everything else left standing in the surrounding area. The cause of this almost total destruction was caused by a V-2, or as described at the time in the Incident Log, a "Long Range Rocket" which was reported at 16:19 on 24 January 1945, causing four fatal casualties, seventeen serious injuries and another ninety two walking wounded. Thanks to the excellent V2 Rocket website, we know that this missile was lauched some five minutes previously in the Den Haag area of The Netherlands. The V-2 Rockets caused widespread damage, mainly in London but also in liberated cities such as Antwerp and Brussels but which mercifully came too late to alter the outcome of the war, with the final British bound example falling at Orpington, Kent on 27 March 1945, less than six weeks before the final German surrender.

If we look again at the photograph and come slightly nearer to the camera, we can see on this side of the church The Mitre public house, which still stands today on the three-way junction with Roan Street, Straightsmouth and Greenwich High Road. Once again, there are some anomalies between the OS Map, the Bomb Damage Map and the photographic evidence, which shows the pub looking somewhat the worse for wear but probably still open for business, whilst the OS Map shows "ruins" on both sides of it. A closer look at the photograph confirms what looks like a bombed out building next door to the pub in Roan Street (which today seems to form part of the pub itself), whilst the Bomb Damage Map makes no mention of any bomb damage whatsoever at this end of Roan Street.  The only bomb damage recorded in the Incident Log for Straightsmouth is a V-1 Flying Bomb further along the road, which caused severe damage to the railway embankment on 1 July 1944 and caused seven serious casualties but thankfully no fatalities. There are some further buildings marked in purple, meaning "Damaged Beyond Repair" at the junction of Straightsmouth and Roan Street but the cause of this damage is unknown as there is no mention of this in the Incident Log, although there is a corresponding fallow area on the OS Map. Despite all of this visual evidence, the bomb that caused the damage to the pub and which caused the adjacent buildings to be described as ruins, is still something of a mystery as it does not appear to have been accurately recorded. The only possible explanation is blast damage caused either by the V-2 that destroyed the area opposite St Alfege Church, or by the V-1 in Straightsmouth described above, or perhaps a combination of both.

The clearing up operation after the V-1 of 1 July 1944 (Greenwich Heritage Centre)

A further look at the photograph adjacent to the tram nearer to the foreground shows some obvious bomb damage, which on the Bomb Damage Map is indeed marked in purple, as "Damaged Beyond Repair." It is hard to pinpoint exactly when this damage was caused as there were so many incidents recorded but it was probably caused on 18 September 1940 when incendiary bombs fell in the area and were reported as having destroyed number 277 and adjacent buildings on the opposite side of the road (again marked in purple on the Bomb Damage Maps), so it would seem a fair assumption. The photograph bears out the level of damage as there is a fairly large extent of cleared land on the left hand side of the road as we see it in the foreground.

On the right hand side of the photograph, to the rear of Greenwich High Road, there is almost total destruction still evident in 1946. This is almost certainly the legacy of another V-1 Flying Bomb which fell on Burney Street on 27 June 1944, causing many houses to be destroyed as well as causing widespread blast damage to the already battered area. Many of the houses were damaged beyond repair and subsequently demolished. Today, the abrupt ending of the surviving terrace gives away the location. In one of those strange post-war twists of fate, the land was later used as the site of the new Greenwich Police Station, which ironically replaced the original Police Station in Park Row, itself destroyed by a Flying Bomb in July 1944.

Damage to Burney Street after the V-1 incident of 27 June 1944 (Greenwich Heritage Centre)

As a matter of interest, the nearest Air Raid Wardens' Post was 'West 5', located in the Town Hall further along Greenwich High Road, which also housed the Borough Civil Defence Control Room. The new Town Hall, completed in 1939, is an impressive Art Deco structure which with it's tall clock tower (from which the aerial photo was taken) dominates the immediate area. It houses a substantial reinforced basement, which apart from the Wardens' Post and Borough Control Room, was also the location of a large public air raid shelter, capable of housing some seven hundred people. This, together with the other public shelters in the vicinity, would have been in frequent use during most of the incidents mentioned above.

Moving further away from the camera nearer to the Thames and almost entirely out of shot behind the church, is another area shown on the Bomb Damage Map as having incurred severe damage. Unfortunately, this area is just off the top of the page for the OS Map, so we are unable to compare the two maps on this occasion but it does make interesting viewing. This area close to the entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, is shown in a combination of colours, mainly black for "Total Destruction" but with large areas of purple "Damaged Beyond Repair" and crimson "Seriously Damaged - Doubtful if Repairable" showing on the map. There is also a large area shown in green, which indicates a "Clearance Area" which in other words is an area already reduced to rubble and which has already been cleared for redevelopment. The bulk of this devastation was caused by yet another V-1 Flying Bomb that was reported at 06:24 on 3 August 1944 and which killed one person. Had the weapon fallen a few hours later, the casualties would doubtless have been higher as this was a busy area of shops and small businesses, as well as a pedestrian thoroughfare to the Foot Tunnel. Almost the whole block, including the gutted remains of the old 'Ship Hotel', which had already largely been destroyed by a HE Bomb in November 1940, was subsequently cleared to allow the building of the dry dock to house the Cutty Sark in 1954.

As always, the photographs and the two maps make fascinating reading, showing as they do an area that is familiar today to residents and visitors alike, in a completely different light. The documents also show the difficulties that sometimes arise when researching an area's wartime history and the dangers of becoming over reliant on one particular document or source of information. The LCC Bomb Damage Maps are an excellent resource and are invariably correct but one has to remember that these were produced by fallible human beings, often in the heat of the moment. What appeared beyond repair to one local authority building surveyor was sometimes actually very repairable in reality. Likewise, the Civil Defence Incident Logs were written very much in the heat of the moment and therefore sometimes get locations muddled or wrongly named. What always helps are the photographs of any bomb damaged area as these provide incontrovertible visual evidence, even though they do sometimes throw up more questions!

However, the use of all of these sources together will usually allow the determined researcher to get to the bottom of most mysteries as well as providing hours of harmless fun in the process!

As this is likely to be the final blog post for 2016, I'd like to thank everyone for reading and commenting upon the various articles, as well as wishing all of our readers the compliments of the season and also a happy and healthy 2017. We will be back in January with further reports on our wartime history.

Unpublished Sources:

LCC Bomb Damage Maps for Greenwich - held at Greenwich Heritage Centre
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Civil Defence Incident Logs - held at Greenwich Heritage Centre 
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Public Air Raid Shelter locations - held at Greenwich Heritage Centre
Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich Air Raid Wardens' Post locations - held at Greenwich Heritage Centre