UK Bomb Damage. (Still visible now)

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by raf, Jul 12, 2006.

  1. Jedburgh22

    Jedburgh22 Very Senior Member

    It is amazing just how much bomb-damage is visible in London (if one looks) have a look at Cleopatra's needle!
     
  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Sat down for our sarnies outside the British Museum, and a mate spotted this:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Surely shrapnel damage?
    Nothing else seems to scar stone like that - a quick on-the-spot Google confirmed the Museum was hit.
     
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Just looked at my pics from British Museum trip last April, didnt notice the shrapnel damage then , as was watching Sikh martial arts.
    There it is though.

    (That was my first trip since Junior school so that's about 35 years??)
     

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  4. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

  5. Rav4

    Rav4 Senior Member

    I was stationed in Plymouth in the 1950's and you could see right across the centre of town from the NAFFI. Have not been there since, but I understand it's a completely new city now.
     
  6. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    Holyrood Church (or Holy Rood Church) was one of the original five churches serving the old walled town of Southampton, England. Built in 1320, the church was destroyed by enemy bombing during the blitz in November 1940. In 1957 the shell of the church was dedicated as a memorial to the sailors of the Merchant Navy:




    church.jpg




    Holyrood Church, Southampton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
  7. Bradlad

    Bradlad Senior Member

    There are a few places still visitable in the North, The wall outside Leeds City Hall has Bomb case damage pockmarks, as do a few buildings around the centre of Leeds.

    137 Beverley Road, Hull is a former cinema, a bomb dropped into the auditorium whilst everyone was in the lobby, the building was destroyed but no-one was killed, the building is exactly as it was at the time ( although it has a hoarding in front now ) and is possibly the last extant bombed out building in the North.

    In London it's almost impossible to walk for 5 minutes without seeing some extant damage, New Cross High St ( New Cross Road / Goodwood road junction ) Woolworths suffered a direct hit by a V2, the destruction was almost total to the store itself but the adjacent buildings were damaged too, The site was rebuilt and is now an Iceland however the building after the ' New Cross Library ' is pre-war and shows the scars of many local bombs, the damage is even visible on google earth.
     
  8. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    Bradlad; I hope the facade is listed, it would be a shame to take that down.




    Beverley Rd.jpg
     
  9. Graham Smith

    Graham Smith Member

    Some may know of this and I guess most will not....

    I knew nothing of it at all and I only live 45 minutes drive away !!

    The Fauld explosion in Hanbury, Staffordshire. Credited with being the single biggest explosion aprt from the two nuclear detonations over Japan.

    Story is here:

    Remembering the Fauld Explosion in Staffordshire | This is Nottingham


    In brief a huge RAF underground bomb store...Some one doing a little maintanance work and Kerboom !!

    70 killed, some never found at all and the site is still fenced off as it's believed that there are still 2K tonnes of UXB in the remains of the tunnels.

    If you have been to the WW1 Lochnagar crater, well times that by about 5 and you get an impression of the huge crater left.

    You can visit today, nothing but a wire fence, some warnings signs from the MOD and self preservation prevent you entering the crater itself. It is HUGE despite being covered in trees and undergrowth.

    The 'Cock Inn' pub is a good place to start they have newspaper cuttings etc on the walls and the footpath to the crater starts there. Note that its not open till about 4:30 pm on weekdays and a little earlier on weekends. They dont mind you parking on their carpark to visit the crater though.
     
  10. Graham Smith

    Graham Smith Member

  11. Graham Smith

    Graham Smith Member

  12. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Some may know of this and I guess most will not....

    I knew nothing of it at all and I only live 45 minutes drive away !!

    The Fauld explosion in Hanbury, Staffordshire. Credited with being the single biggest explosion aprt from the two nuclear detonations over Japan.

    Story is here:

    Remembering the Fauld Explosion in Staffordshire | This is Nottingham


    In brief a huge RAF underground bomb store...Some one doing a little maintanance work and Kerboom !!

    70 killed, some never found at all and the site is still fenced off as it's believed that there are still 2K tonnes of UXB in the remains of the tunnels.

    If you have been to the WW1 Lochnagar crater, well times that by about 5 and you get an impression of the huge crater left.

    You can visit today, nothing but a wire fence, some warnings signs from the MOD and self preservation prevent you entering the crater itself. It is HUGE despite being covered in trees and undergrowth.

    The 'Cock Inn' pub is a good place to start they have newspaper cuttings etc on the walls and the footpath to the crater starts there. Note that its not open till about 4:30 pm on weekdays and a little earlier on weekends. They dont mind you parking on their carpark to visit the crater though.
    And the Heligoland Explosion.
    Sorry, I'll crawl back under my pedant's rock now :).

    Contemporary view of the Fauld Crater:
    ROYAL AIR FORCE MAINTENANCE COMMAND, 1939-1945. | Imperial War Museums
     
  13. Graham Smith

    Graham Smith Member

  14. Medic7922

    Medic7922 Senior Member

    Although the City of Bath was well rebuilt after the war following the Baedeker Raid in April 1942, You can still see visible damage around the city, one area of notable importance is the old Electricity house on the corner of James Street West & Kingsmead North, It was never repaired and is a lasting memorial to the bombing.
    Bath has a very good archive of the Cities Bombing and you can even get maps showing where the bombs fell and the UXBs located.
    Bath Blitz Memorial Project
    Only yesterday I noted on the Kingswood School above Bath a plaque informing about the old school which was destroyed due to "Enemy Action"
     
    von Poop and CL1 like this.
  15. Bradlad

    Bradlad Senior Member

    Bradlad; I hope the facade is listed, it would be a shame to take that down.




    View attachment 76265

    Unfortunately it isn't, there is a growing movement within Hull to have it preserved as a memorial to those lost in the ' Hull Blitz ' but the owner has applied to turn it into apartments..

    Another partial " as it was " I have just remembered, A church in York; St Martin le Grand was bombed and although repaired to a certain extent, the ' interior ' main aisle has been left open to the elements.
     
  16. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    St Martin le Grand was bombed and although repaired to a certain extent, the ' interior ' main aisle has been left open to the elements.
    Is that the one on Coney Street, with the big clock and gates across the open aisle?
    Passed it every weekend as a kid, and took it entirely for granted... Had to go back years later to notice the WW2 history.
    York... it's just full of odd stuff.
     
  17. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  18. Bradlad

    Bradlad Senior Member

    Is that the one on Coney Street, with the big clock and gates across the open aisle?
    Passed it every weekend as a kid, and took it entirely for granted... Had to go back years later to notice the WW2 history.
    York... it's just full of odd stuff.

    Yep that's the one.

    I'm not a religious person but whenever I'm in York I like to pay a visit to the little chapel that is attached at the side, it is the memorial to those lost in York in WW2, it is so peaceful and quiet it allows a few minutes of contemplation.
     
  19. Varasc

    Varasc Senior Member

  20. Holtsedge

    Holtsedge Member

    i maybe some years late but i keep looking for bomb damaged sites in the uk.

    i guess most buildings have now been re-built or the land has changed.

    does anybody have any info on this.....like craters in fields etc.

    if not then in the uk the germany ive seen plenty of pics of the somme are from WW1.

    many thanks:cheers:
    At the right time of year, ie after the fields have been ploughed there are 3 craters visible by a change in the soil colour in our village of Holford in Somerset.
    See Holford at War
     

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