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Air raid shelters

JanetM12 said:
My mother and her sister keep having difference of opinions and I wondered if anyone on here could solve it. My Aunt says there were air raid shelters on Stratford Road, Hall Green but my mother has no recollection of these. Does anyone know?
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Post 161 of this thread refers to one opposite Hall Green Church. I am sure many were built on derelict or unused house lots in the suburbs. Bombing, as most here, know was not restricted to the industrial areas and city centre.
 
pjmburns said:
My Grandparents had a shelter like that - when I remember it in the 1950s Grandad used it for his gardening tools and storing veg (like potatoes). It looks as if it is still there joined to the neighbour's shelter
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Hi,That pic looks very like the one that was in our garden in common lane sheldon, it was also joined the the neighbours, it had a very, very thick concrete pebbled flat roof . When I was a child in the 60's it had no door just open access. My Dad also used it for storage, it was still there when we left uk back in 1983, I have recently googled our old house it is quite clearly still standing at the bottom of the garden.
 
Excavating the canal arms under the Easy Row car park in August 1939 to provide air raid shelters. Viv.

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Shelters arriving by train in February 1939 for onward transport to Birmingham homes. Viv.
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The caption accompanying this image talks of ‘trenches’, the one in the photo being on waste land at Berkeley Road off Coventry Road. It also mentions 7 miles of trenches.

There’s something slightly surreal about the men in raincoats and hats emerging from this shelter. Viv.

8D94AC89-20BB-4759-8D55-4084715B969E.jpeg
 
It is curious to note that these air raid precautions were taking place in early 1939, some months before the infamous appeasement saga. The months are also prior to the air display featured in a the latest post on the Elmdon thread.
 
Radiorails said:
Not Birmingham, but it seems to be a rather unusual shelter I decided to post it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...tml?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
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Wow, that is amazing I have never seen one like it before, thank you for sharing it.
Ours was a reinforced concert square building, the roof i remember had pebbles in the concrete. I think I have posted in another post that I can see it on google maps still standing in the garden where we lived growing up.
 
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A shelter for 200 neighbours in Victoria Place, September 1939. Hope someone knew what they were doing on this shelter. Would they have needed some sort of approval ? Viv.

2B0E1F94-1994-4D23-A374-EEC3F93F243C.jpeg
 
yer i wonder Viv did they have planners.or could you just build or dig one. when we moved in aston dad was digging the old garden.and come to concrete. we spent time clearing the soil,and it was a shelter. lifting the lid.we saw metal steps. down we went, in there was wooden seats. old rotton rubber gas masks, comics,etc all left by last folks down there. rotting away,
 
mw0njm. said:
yer i wonder Viv did they have planners.or could you just build or dig one. when we moved in aston dad was digging the old garden.and come to concrete. we spent time clearing the soil,and it was a shelter. lifting the lid.we saw metal steps. down we went, in there was wooden seats. old rotton rubber gas masks, comics,etc all left by last folks down there. rotting away,
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I wonder how many other residents have found the old shelters buried /hidden under the earth in their gardens over the years since the war.
 
Radiorails said:
It is curious to note that these air raid precautions were taking place in early 1939, some months before the infamous appeasement saga. The months are also prior to the air display featured in a the latest post on the Elmdon thread.
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I suppose there is almost nobody around now who was an adult in 1939 and could confirm it. But it seems pretty clear that many people knew exactly what was coming and this included the authorities, fortunately. Even if we were woefully unprepared in some ways, in others we were ready: these ARP measures; industrially, with shadow factories ready for the "off"; early warning radar stations; fighter production gearing up.

The invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia by Hitler in March was the the last straw. But to many it was just a confirmation of existing fears. My own father was building our air-raid shelter in the back garden in the winter of 1938/39, prior to all that. He had visited Germany in 1937/38, could see what was going on, remembered hanging up his own uniform less than 20 years earlier.....

(One of my earliest memories is standing on the edge of a big hole, watching him pour concrete to construct one of the walls. Happy days?????)

Chris
 
A 3 minute video clip showing an extract from a longer BFI film released 6 months before the outbreak of WW2. It is noisy and dramatic as such films were at that time. In 1932 the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin stated that 'the bombers will always get through' so by 1939 people were worried.
 
hi. when i see these sheets of iron for sale.in the farm supply stores. i think,of the time i worked for bham parks dept and allotments. pulling down and removing the old shelters,from allotments.that was rusted and was dangerous.
 

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oldMohawk said:
A 3 minute video clip showing an extract from a longer BFI film released 6 months before the outbreak of WW2. It is noisy and dramatic as such films were at that time. In 1932 the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin stated that 'the bombers will always get through' so by 1939 people were worried.
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I think it must have been terrifying stuck down those air raid shelters when you can hear the whistle of the bombs falling, holding your breath when they fall too close for comfort. I was too young to remember air raids, though a house just 50 yards from ours in Doidge road received a direct hit & the occupants killed. I`m told my Dad had his feet badly burned when trying to stamp out an incendiary device.
 
My Nan built the air raid shelter in their garden, she came from a building family and was good at stuff like that!
I think they were quite lucky and nothing was bombed in the surrounding area as the house was opposite Perry Barr park where there were anti aircraft guns so I doubt planes would want to get too close!
 
i could not do it. a quick look is enough. no way could i stay down there.
is bof what i think it means. lol
 
ChrisM said:
I suppose there is almost nobody around now who was an adult in 1939 and could confirm it. But it seems pretty clear that many people knew exactly what was coming and this included the authorities, fortunately. Even if we were woefully unprepared in some ways, in others we were ready: these ARP measures; industrially, with shadow factories ready for the "off"; early warning radar stations; fighter production gearing up.

The invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia by Hitler in March was the the last straw. But to many it was just a confirmation of existing fears. My own father was building our air-raid shelter in the back garden in the winter of 1938/39, prior to all that. He had visited Germany in 1937/38, could see what was going on, remembered hanging up his own uniform less than 20 years earlier.....

(One of my earliest memories is standing on the edge of a big hole, watching him pour concrete to construct one of the walls. Happy days?????)

Chris
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A goods instance where 'the man in the street' or the 'man on the Clapham omnibus' :grinning: seemed to be aware of what was around the corner more so than many politicians.
(No Brexit comments, watch tv for that) :eek:
 
We have friends that live in Bath and Alexander has this two man shelter in his yard. Have not seen one of these before. Said he thinks ARP used them on roof tops? Thinks they are very rare. Bath got 6" snow.
 

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oldbrit said:
We have friends that live in Bath and Alexander has this two man shelter in his yard. Have not seen one of these before. Said he thinks ARP used them on roof tops? Thinks they are very rare. Bath got 6" snow.
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its a bit small for two sharing. init. did they stand up:laughing::laughing:
 
Thank you for re telling the bishop street air raid. The home guard was my great grandad George Walter Inwood GC. His George cross is located at the Birmingham museum. Top bloke by the sound of it. Very proud x
 

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A warm welcome to the Forum, Hayley. We are especially pleased to be able to welcome the descendant of such a remarkable Birmingham hero as George Walter Inwood.

Thanks for posting the screenshots. It may be also convenient, for ease of viewing, for members to go directly to my Home Guard website page where that information about your great grandfather is contained. This is a reminder of it: http://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/DotherReminiscences87Deritend.htm

If you have any further unpublished family information (including a photograph of him, perhaps), which would improve this commemoration of him, do please let us/me know. I should be very pleased to include it within the page if that is what your family would want.

Chris
 
Hello Hayley, I'm related too! My 2xGt Grandmother was Selina Inwood nee Bettridge (later Yapp so it's a little complicated. )
Another member Carlinwood is also related but I'm not sure if he still posts.
If you put "Inwood" into the search box there is more information.
I didn't know the medal was in the Museum, I'm glad it's safe!! Thanks for posting.
Best Wishes,
rosie.
 
Just going through a few old pics and came across this one of our air raid shelter at 215 Knowle Road, Sparkhill. We moved into the house in 1941 from Aston and the shelter was already there. Centre top you can just make out the back wall of the Springfield Cinema, by then with all its seats stripped out and used by the Ministry of Food for storing sugar.

Due to the high water table, the inside of the shelter was deep with stagnant water with duck boards over the top. I think we only used it two or three times. My younger brother Roy is sitting on the swing erected by my father. The strings on the right were put up by my father for growing sweet peas.

Maurice :cool:
Roy_215_Knowle_Road_1941.jpg
 
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