-
Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.
We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team -
HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
we are now using a backup solution
J
Jack's Grandson
Guest
I recall my late aunt (Violet Cliff, formerly of Bell Barn), who lived at 20 Ivydale, telling me about that bombing.
By looking at the BARRA site, it was likely in early 1941. Violet had lived there since the house was first built in about the mid-1930s.
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Hello everybody I'm new to this forum and i found this wonderful forum while searching for info and a picture possibly of the Lily road bombing during the second world war
i have lived at the site of one of the houses bombed for many years and my family have lived in this house since 1962. I always had wondered why the design was more modern then most of the properties in the road.
And my dad always said that a mine hit the road during the war has he used to talk with many of the neighbours in the 1960's and 1970's who remembered the horrors of that night.
I'm so glad i found this as my mother is still alive and she has long wondered if there was a photograph taken at the time as i see there is.
i feel very sad as i look at it for the loss of life that night ,even maybe where i am sitting now typing this and when we have been working in the garden and constructing a pond the amount
of wartime rubble,crockery,tiles etc that we would find was always a constant reminder.
I'm just trying to think back to my childhood now to see if any names of neighbours that would remember spring to mind
i have lived at the site of one of the houses bombed for many years and my family have lived in this house since 1962. I always had wondered why the design was more modern then most of the properties in the road.
And my dad always said that a mine hit the road during the war has he used to talk with many of the neighbours in the 1960's and 1970's who remembered the horrors of that night.
I'm so glad i found this as my mother is still alive and she has long wondered if there was a photograph taken at the time as i see there is.
i feel very sad as i look at it for the loss of life that night ,even maybe where i am sitting now typing this and when we have been working in the garden and constructing a pond the amount
of wartime rubble,crockery,tiles etc that we would find was always a constant reminder.
I'm just trying to think back to my childhood now to see if any names of neighbours that would remember spring to mind
lencops
gone but not forgotten
Bouncytigger, Link to Lily Rd air raid victims, in location type "Yardley". Len. https://www.swanshurst.org/barra/
Last edited:
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Lencops Many Thanks for the information
I remember from my childhood Mrs Ashton i think she lived at number 41 she was buried under the rubble and taken down to the school in Harvey road. so you may know her?
I remember from my childhood Mrs Ashton i think she lived at number 41 she was buried under the rubble and taken down to the school in Harvey road. so you may know her?
lencops
gone but not forgotten
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Edith and her family died in the house next door to me. My dad had always said that he thought that two sisters and their parents had lost their lives from talking to neighbours in the 60's
but we were not sure if it was our house or next door. Drusilla Staples died where we live. How very sad all of it. My dad was in the RAF at the time and he said he remembers that night and the bombing of Coventry
but we were not sure if it was our house or next door. Drusilla Staples died where we live. How very sad all of it. My dad was in the RAF at the time and he said he remembers that night and the bombing of Coventry
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Hi Len
Mrs Ashton was probably well into her 70's maybe when i knew her in the late 60's early 70's and i was only child at the time. so Ashton being her married name Thomas Walter Webb may well have been a relation or even her father maybe? we might never know?
I was wondering what the intended target may have been for this parachute mine? Coventrys not far as the crow flies and it was that same night Coventry was Blitzed so....
Many Thanks Again
Jane
Mrs Ashton was probably well into her 70's maybe when i knew her in the late 60's early 70's and i was only child at the time. so Ashton being her married name Thomas Walter Webb may well have been a relation or even her father maybe? we might never know?
I was wondering what the intended target may have been for this parachute mine? Coventrys not far as the crow flies and it was that same night Coventry was Blitzed so....
Many Thanks Again
Jane
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Thank you old boy
Am i right in presuming then that there would have been no air raid warning for something like this?
Am i right in presuming then that there would have been no air raid warning for something like this?
Old Boy
master brummie
Jane,
No you cannot presume that there had been no air raid warning, These were given after the aircraft had crossed the coast and the spotters had worked out where they thought the aircraft were heading. Very occasionally they were a little too slow and the aircraft were overhead before the warning had been given. We could always tell that they werer enemy aircraft because they had a distinctive tone to their engines. Not everyone took shelter even when a raid was in progress. They felt safer in their own house perhaps under the stairs or a table, maybe the cellar if they had one.
Cinemas and theatres always told their patrons when there was an air raid warning but not everyone left. The show would then continue hence the many people who died when the Carlton Cinema in Taunton Road was hit by a bomb..
Old Boy
No you cannot presume that there had been no air raid warning, These were given after the aircraft had crossed the coast and the spotters had worked out where they thought the aircraft were heading. Very occasionally they were a little too slow and the aircraft were overhead before the warning had been given. We could always tell that they werer enemy aircraft because they had a distinctive tone to their engines. Not everyone took shelter even when a raid was in progress. They felt safer in their own house perhaps under the stairs or a table, maybe the cellar if they had one.
Cinemas and theatres always told their patrons when there was an air raid warning but not everyone left. The show would then continue hence the many people who died when the Carlton Cinema in Taunton Road was hit by a bomb..
Old Boy
lencops
gone but not forgotten
Hello Jane, The big raid on Coventry was on the 14th November 1940 the same night as Lily Rd raid, i think the bomber who dropped the mine knew he was 20 mile from Coventry, the sirens always sounded when bombers got close to any large town or city, the Gunners on Oaklands Rec where given the order to man the Guns 30 minutes before the sirens sounded. Len.
Last edited:
Ray Barrett
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN R.I.P.
Hello chris,
An old ex R.A.F.man told me the reason for the difference in engine sound,of enemy aicraft, was, they used to have their engines out of sync.too fool the radar
An old ex R.A.F.man told me the reason for the difference in engine sound,of enemy aicraft, was, they used to have their engines out of sync.too fool the radar
lencops
gone but not forgotten
Jane, A siren sounding the warning, scroll down on the r/hand and you will find the all clear siren. Len. https://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/history/worldwar2audioclipslibrary_clip02.shtml#top
Last edited:
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Thanks for your very informative replies everybody. Its really helping me to build a picture of what went on that terrible night.
I've just been talking to my mother who was a child and living in wychbold crescent at the time.
she said that a lot of people came up to see the damage in Lily Road the next day.
little did she know that later in her life in 1965 that she would be living in one of the new properties that
were built in that site.
If i remember rightly Mrs Ashtons first name was Molly Len
I've just been talking to my mother who was a child and living in wychbold crescent at the time.
she said that a lot of people came up to see the damage in Lily Road the next day.
little did she know that later in her life in 1965 that she would be living in one of the new properties that
were built in that site.
If i remember rightly Mrs Ashtons first name was Molly Len
Ray Barrett
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN R.I.P.
We had an anderson shelter in the "garden",it was never used,we always went to an old type villa house in Victoria Rd (it's still there ) they had a community shelter in the cellar,we already had a relative and his son sleeping in our cellar.
After the war my dad sold our anderson shelter to a self build group for 10 shillings,they used it to store their tools.
After the war my dad sold our anderson shelter to a self build group for 10 shillings,they used it to store their tools.
lencops
gone but not forgotten
Jane, there was an entrance off Lily Rd that led to a Blacksmiths Shop and if you walked through you got to Milton Crescent, off Church Rd and if you turned towards the left you came out to the Coventry Rd up from The Tivoli cinema, Painters Undertakers horses were shoed there, Edith Waters body took many days to find under the rubble in Lily Rd, the road was closed for at least a week while they cleared the road and looked for any bodies or survivors. Len.
barrie
master brummie
I thought that sound was caused by the superchargers on the aircraft engines.
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Mom was saying something about the blacksmiths only earlier today.
Sounds as if the entrance to there was probably were Ash tree Drive is today, there were garages there in the late 60's and 70's that i remember.
don't know if you remember a Miss jenkins? she lived the first house past the bombed properties so that would be number 55? Think she had been there years she had a lovely long garden with a sun dial in it as i remember?
We used to have a shop opposite that sold just about everything? it was like Arkwrights in open all hours it was turned into a house in the early 80's i think
B
Bouncytigger
Guest
Thats interesting about the chimney sweeps as i didn't realise there had been another shop unless it was on the corner where the newsagents is now?
oh hang on i think there was a shop now the bottom left hand side as you say or the remnents of.... I wasn't born until 1964 ha ha
lencops
gone but not forgotten
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Re the Gunsite on Oaklands Rec, Yardley. Edna Storr, Of Castle Bromwhich was 17 when she became a member of the ATS – Auxiliary Territorial Service (later became the WRACS) and she worked with the anti-aircraft units (ack-ack guns).[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Her unit was 460 Mixed Ack-Ack (AA) Battery 134 Regiment. Her job was height finder and plotter.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Women like Edna had the job of tracking the German bombers and giving the co-ordinates to the men firing the ack-ack guns. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]They would often be in the thick of the bombing with no shelter as enemy aircraft flew overhead. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Based in South Yardley she was with the crews who helped defend Birmingham. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Edna remembers when they brought one aircraft down the people of South Yardley brought her crew a barrel of beer.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]She also tells the story of being on duty the night of one of the longest bombing raids over Birmingham – 13 hours. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Edna says: "We didn't know much longer it was going to go on for and we didn't know if we would survive."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Edna is a member of the Royal Artillery Veterans Association and attends many events and memorials throughout the year. She now lives in Selby, Yorkshire. Len.
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Her unit was 460 Mixed Ack-Ack (AA) Battery 134 Regiment. Her job was height finder and plotter.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Women like Edna had the job of tracking the German bombers and giving the co-ordinates to the men firing the ack-ack guns. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]They would often be in the thick of the bombing with no shelter as enemy aircraft flew overhead. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Based in South Yardley she was with the crews who helped defend Birmingham. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Edna remembers when they brought one aircraft down the people of South Yardley brought her crew a barrel of beer.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]She also tells the story of being on duty the night of one of the longest bombing raids over Birmingham – 13 hours. [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Edna says: "We didn't know much longer it was going to go on for and we didn't know if we would survive."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Edna is a member of the Royal Artillery Veterans Association and attends many events and memorials throughout the year. She now lives in Selby, Yorkshire. Len.
[/FONT]
Last edited:
