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Birmingham Newspapers 1939-1945
- Thread starter Pedrocut
- Start date
paul stacey
master brummie
Thanks for this thread, my mother and my nan, were always talking through out my childhood, about the warning, and all clear, sirens in Birmingham. paul
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
I think there was quite a lot of information for the public just before WW2 about Anderson shelters as can be seen in a web site link with lots of pics in post#159 of the Air raid shelters thread.
Paul even after the war years in aston they was being used for company employees
At certain factory,s
Ie,,HP Sauce ,Ansells ,,Buttons,, of portland street And ICI ,/IMI, of witton
To Tell them its Lunch Time And Clocking out at the end of the Day and at certain times of the day
For break times
I lived between the whole three of them up the terrace we lived Next To Ansells, and along down the road
Which wkuldbe about a third of a mile HP Sauce and more lr less facing is The Buttons factory
That was as good as facing each other you could say
The women up our terrace comwell terrace /square it all depended how these cenus,s gathers
Reported into the ledgers i have seen them contridct these selfs in the ledgere
But we all called it up our terrace
The women was aleays Gossiping amongrst them selfs most times of the day especialy around mid day
When they heard these bulls going off sounding Siren,s
One would say Oh ,thats Buttons bull ,I had get our Albert dinner ready its One oclock
Or its HP Sauce bull going off, or its HPSauce its 12 30. Or again its Ansells bull that is,
Ylou wkuld hear an army of people clattering down the road coming from Aston Cross
All wearing brown overalls and tubans on womens neads and the banging of the cloggs on the pavements
One or another woman would sasy oh thats the so/and so , bull
Or its five oclock bull going off ,even us little kids would make a refference to hearing the sounds
Especialy when not at school and bei g on those long germ holidays of the good old indian summers
We got red hot and blue skies and watching thoxe thousands of starling flying over
Msking those shales in the sky snd heading for st phillips church and dloi g thdre cropping on the people below
Walking through the church yard it may have been your best suit of clothe
At certain factory,s
Ie,,HP Sauce ,Ansells ,,Buttons,, of portland street And ICI ,/IMI, of witton
To Tell them its Lunch Time And Clocking out at the end of the Day and at certain times of the day
For break times
I lived between the whole three of them up the terrace we lived Next To Ansells, and along down the road
Which wkuldbe about a third of a mile HP Sauce and more lr less facing is The Buttons factory
That was as good as facing each other you could say
The women up our terrace comwell terrace /square it all depended how these cenus,s gathers
Reported into the ledgers i have seen them contridct these selfs in the ledgere
But we all called it up our terrace
The women was aleays Gossiping amongrst them selfs most times of the day especialy around mid day
When they heard these bulls going off sounding Siren,s
One would say Oh ,thats Buttons bull ,I had get our Albert dinner ready its One oclock
Or its HP Sauce bull going off, or its HPSauce its 12 30. Or again its Ansells bull that is,
Ylou wkuld hear an army of people clattering down the road coming from Aston Cross
All wearing brown overalls and tubans on womens neads and the banging of the cloggs on the pavements
One or another woman would sasy oh thats the so/and so , bull
Or its five oclock bull going off ,even us little kids would make a refference to hearing the sounds
Especialy when not at school and bei g on those long germ holidays of the good old indian summers
We got red hot and blue skies and watching thoxe thousands of starling flying over
Msking those shales in the sky snd heading for st phillips church and dloi g thdre cropping on the people below
Walking through the church yard it may have been your best suit of clothe
paul stacey
master brummie
Yes, Alan I remember the works sirens also, and according to which part od the City you were in , you could tell the difference. Paul
Old Boy
master brummie
Hi Pedro,
Obviously posed but hardly propaganda. It seems that the shelters had only been delivered that day and it was an item of news for the newspaper. In any case the shelter should really have been erected in a hole specially dug.
Old Boy
Radiorails
master brummie
One of those 'bell; type shelters exists at the Brixham Battery Heritage centre in Torbay. The theme of the centre is the coastal defences over the last few centuries with particular reference to WW2 and the local Home Guard.
To a midland topic now.
There was an air raid siren situated on Wollaston Mill adjacent to Shirley railway station (GWR). This could be heard over a very wide area of the district which was for a great part open country.
Sirens such as these were in use well into the early 1970's as a method of summoning retained (0ften incorrectly called volunteer) firefighters. The advent of pagers made life less stressful as the pager could usually be heard above loud music (pubs, tv's, dances etc. whereas the sound of a siren was often not heard in the more noisy world created in the 1960's and which continues to the present day.
To a midland topic now.
There was an air raid siren situated on Wollaston Mill adjacent to Shirley railway station (GWR). This could be heard over a very wide area of the district which was for a great part open country.
Sirens such as these were in use well into the early 1970's as a method of summoning retained (0ften incorrectly called volunteer) firefighters. The advent of pagers made life less stressful as the pager could usually be heard above loud music (pubs, tv's, dances etc. whereas the sound of a siren was often not heard in the more noisy world created in the 1960's and which continues to the present day.
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
Yes it is obviously posed, and after reading the associated article the picture becomes quite comical. I will copy the article and post later!
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
OldMohawk has previously quoted the site below for an intersting account of the shelters...
https://mashable.com/2015/07/24/wwii-backyard-bunkers/#39JMvrYzPkqc
The picture of the two ladies and a child erecting the shelter is in fact associated with an article.
Under the picture there is an article concerning the first deliveries of shelters to Birmingham, which were to Selly Oak and Selly Park....
...astonished womenfolk offered access to their gardens, and heavy parts were carried up by railwaymen and dumped in the small areas at the back of the houses. "We had no idea they were coming" a lady told the mail reporter... "We don't know how to put them up. No instructions are being given"....
"What ever shall I do with all this," one woman asked, "I am on my own, except for a lodger. My two boys are in the Navy and I can't possibly put these up."....
At another house it was stated that the first difficulty would be digging the hole, "the ground requires a pick," it was stated, "and across these gardens three sets of pipes are laid, land drains I think."....The General impression received was that the shelters, for the moment, present a tremendous problem, and few could say decisively whether they are to be put up at all.
Some of the problems raised have been covered by an official explanation of the procedure to be adopted. Each household to which a shelter has been given will receive a booklet of instructions showing how to put the various parts together. Householders may then erect their shelters or they may get in touch with the Corporation, who will, on their behalf, have the parts erected on the best site. Those who wish to use their own labour can have the best site marked out for them by the surveyor, although may choose their own site. Should anyone wish to go ahead, the shelters erected in the parks today will show how best to set about the task.
https://mashable.com/2015/07/24/wwii-backyard-bunkers/#39JMvrYzPkqc
The picture of the two ladies and a child erecting the shelter is in fact associated with an article.
Under the picture there is an article concerning the first deliveries of shelters to Birmingham, which were to Selly Oak and Selly Park....
...astonished womenfolk offered access to their gardens, and heavy parts were carried up by railwaymen and dumped in the small areas at the back of the houses. "We had no idea they were coming" a lady told the mail reporter... "We don't know how to put them up. No instructions are being given"....
"What ever shall I do with all this," one woman asked, "I am on my own, except for a lodger. My two boys are in the Navy and I can't possibly put these up."....
At another house it was stated that the first difficulty would be digging the hole, "the ground requires a pick," it was stated, "and across these gardens three sets of pipes are laid, land drains I think."....The General impression received was that the shelters, for the moment, present a tremendous problem, and few could say decisively whether they are to be put up at all.
Some of the problems raised have been covered by an official explanation of the procedure to be adopted. Each household to which a shelter has been given will receive a booklet of instructions showing how to put the various parts together. Householders may then erect their shelters or they may get in touch with the Corporation, who will, on their behalf, have the parts erected on the best site. Those who wish to use their own labour can have the best site marked out for them by the surveyor, although may choose their own site. Should anyone wish to go ahead, the shelters erected in the parks today will show how best to set about the task.
Old Boy
master brummie
Hi Pedro,
Do you know when that article was written and the photo taken? I have it in the back of my mind that they were delivered before the war when it was obvious that war was almost unavoidable. Certainly ours in Small Heath was ready before the blitz started in 1940
Old Boy
Do you know when that article was written and the photo taken? I have it in the back of my mind that they were delivered before the war when it was obvious that war was almost unavoidable. Certainly ours in Small Heath was ready before the blitz started in 1940
Old Boy
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
The picture and article were in 1939, Monday March 6th, Birmingham Mail. The report said today, and therefore I would take it to be the morning of March 6th.
Incredible that in March 1939 there seemed to be little in the way of censorship of the press, or at the very least, some care taken in what was published. The interior of the Austin aircraft factory must have been of significant interest to German Intelligence. And yet, apart from one serious incident, there seemed little concerted attempt to clobber Longbridge. So perhaps they weren't so clever after all!
Chris
Chris
paul stacey
master brummie
As far as "propaganda", is concerned within the contents of WW2, it only relates to the "Enemy", and the bad people of that time. Here in side the UK, we only used mis information. How an erection of a peoples air raid shelter could even be considered as "Propaganda", eludes me. Paul
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
Although not strictly related to WWII the 13 week Birmingham Rent Strike of 1939, said to be the largest at that time, is still mentioned in the study of the history of council housing.
The article associated with the picture says that one women waved a baton and added: "I feel sorry for the poor unfortunate bailiff who succeeds in getting into a house, because once in he will never get out. The women will come from all over the place."
At the time it seems that Councillor Pritchett was blaming it on so-called "Communists", and describing Court Farm Estate as the hot-bed of the strike. On the other hand some were calling the Councillor "Herr Pritchett."
Old Boy
master brummie
Hi All,
I remember the details of the new car were given wide coverage at the time. I suppose it was the birth of Volkswagen' No wonder Hitler was so revered by so many of the German population.
Old Boy
Eric Gibson
master brummie
I think by the time the German people got their hands on 'the peoples car' Hitler was well out of fashion Old Boy, first production was supposed to commence in 1940 but by then the factories were turned over to the war effort.
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
The Mail for Wednesday 9th August carries the picture showing preparations for...
"Birmingham's plans for a compete Black-out to take the opportunity for the first real test of the ARP services of the City. Incidents will be staged calling for the attention of all branches of the organisation...the tests will take place between 11.45pm and 2am.....all householders will be expected to darken all windows to prevent any gleam of light being seen by raiding planes....motorists are asked to keep of the roads..."for these few hours we must conduct ourselves as though in the of war."....
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
On Sunday 3rd September 1939 the Birmingham Mail issued a special edition. The clip added shows the latest in the Noon Edition.
From this point the number of pages in the paper reduces, the number of local pictures reduces and descriptions are vague. The number of pictures from abroad seems to increase.
