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WW2 Harborne

B

Brenda T

knowlegable brummie
What was Harborne like in the Blitz. I know St John’s Church was destroyed but apart from that I haven’t heard of any other bombs in Harborne.
 
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I seem to remember that Harborne Library had a map showing where the bombs fell in Harborne - I think there were only a few. They also have information about the Harborne Home Guard and a few phots of bomb damage. Hope they still have them - it must be nearly 30 yrs since I was in there looking at them!
 
This maybe clutching at straws as houses can disappear for lots of reasons other than bombs. My Grandfather was born in Bedworth but his parents died in the same week when he was 10 and in 1901 he was living with his sister in Bedwoprth. He moved to Birmingham and started work at the Birmingham Post and Mail in 1904. I have him on a rate book in 1906 living in York St. Harborne at number 33 but if you look on Google Maps there is a house sized gap between 31 and 35 so at some point 33 has been demolished and I was wondering if anyone knew if it was the handywork of the Luftwaffe. He was ,however , "safely" ensconsed in Legge St Aston by WWII.
 
hi thomas i have checked the BARRA site and there are no reports of injuries/deaths for no 33 york st..to be honest i think that part of the city was fairly untouched by the blitz..it could just be that no 33 was demolished due to bad repair etc..here is a useful map you can use anywhere in birmingham..i have set the map onto york st and if you move the blue dot to the left the map fades out and shows you what is there now also posting link to todays street view...lyn


www.google.com

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
Gotta say, the fancy bargeboards they put on the building to match up with the one on the right of it (and the one further down the street on the left) certainly gives an impression of age at first glance. You've got to applaud that sort of development that pays heed to its surroundings.
 
Dinger said:
Gotta say, the fancy bargeboards they put on the building to match up with the one on the right of it (and the one further down the street on the left) certainly gives an impression of age at first glance. You've got to applaud that sort of development that pays heed to its surroundings.
Click to expand...
yes dinger i noticed that as well...kind of throws one out at first glance but we knew something was not adding up..

lyn
 
Thanks everyone for the input. I still dont know for sure if the Thomas Neale on the 1906 rate book is in fact my Grandfather. I know he started work at the Birmingham Post and Mail in 1904 as I have his Gold watch engraved for 50 years service so he moved to Birmingham from Bedworth no later than 1904. Ancestry linked the 1906 rate book to him so definitely needs verification. Until this morning I couldnt find him on a 1911 census but now have ( surname spelled incorrectly as Neal then misread and on Ancestry as Nead) and he was living in Aston Rd in 1911 before meeting and marrying my Grandmother in 1916.Once again thanks.
 
He has been a nightmare to find. On the 1911 he is also listed at Thomas Neal without the E and this has been listed on Ancestry as Thomas Nead. Although I knew him,he died when I was 8 ,nobody in the family knew his background even my father and aunt. All they knew was that he was from Bedworth.He would not talk about his family and I have uncovered a very sad tale. He moved to Birmingham to work at the Birmingham Post and Mail in 1904 and worked way past his 50 years into the early 1960's. I have found he had many siblings so my Father had lots of Aunts , Uncles and cousins he didnt know about but I have tracked and spoken to one of Dad's cousins. I am doing this as background to research I am doing on my Dads older brother ,also Thomas Neale who was killed in a Lancaster in April 1945 .
 
hi thomas if you need anymore help just say...as you said earlier thomas lost both of his parents at a young age..looking at their death references of 6d 344 and 6d 345 they died very close together maybe of the same thing..

lyn
 
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