75th Anniversary: The End of the London Blitz, May 11th

[Old No7]

This was posted to remember the 75th Anniversary of the End of the Blitz in London on May 11, 2016.

Click On This Link to see Digital Comparisons of London During the Blitz of 1940-1941 and Present Day

I found the link online this morning and wanted to share those fascinating pictures... As I've seen many of those sights before, I was really interested in those digital images; they were really well done.

While the 'war images' show what the worst of evil in man can do... The 'now images' are a testament to the enduring human spirit to rebuild and carry on.

So "Cheers!" to all of our English comrades in arms.

"Keep Calm and Carry a Levergun!"

Old No7

[gamekeeper]

Thanks for the reminder, my Dad was a fireman all through the Birmingham Blitz 1940 to 1943, my sister worked at the Austin factory, Longbridge, she was fired on by the Luftwaffe whilst running for the air raid shelter.
We were still finding shrapnel in the fifties, which was a highly prized thing to take to school.

The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German Luftwaffe of the city of Birmingham and surrounding towns in the United Kingdom, beginning on 9 August 1940 and ending on 23 April 1943. It is considered a part of the greater Blitz, which was part of the Battle of Britain. Situated in the Midlands, Birmingham, England's most populous British city outside London, is an important industrial and manufacturing location. In total around 1,852 tons of bombs were dropped on Birmingham, making it the third most heavily bombed city in the United Kingdom in World War II, behind only London and Liverpool.[1]
Overall, there were 365 air raid alerts, and 77 actual air raids on Birmingham, eight of which were classified as major (in which at least 100 tons of bombs were dropped).[1][3] Official figures state that 5,129 high explosive bombs and 48 parachute mines landed on the city, along with many thousands of incendiary bombs. Of the high explosive bombs, around one fifth failed to detonate and one third of the parachute mines were left suspended after the parachute cords became caught in various obstacles such as trees.[4] In total, 2,241 people were killed, and 3,010 seriously injured. A further 3,682 sustained lesser injuries. 12,391 houses, 302 factories and 239 other buildings were destroyed, with many more damaged.[5]

Important industrial targets.
Name Location Production
Aerodrome Factory Castle Bromwich 1,200+ Spitfires & Lancasters
Austin "Shadow Factory" Longbridge 2,866 Fairey Battles, Hurricanes, Stirlings & Lancasters
Austin Works Longbridge 500 Military Vehicles/week
Rover Solihull Bristol Hercules Engines
Fisher and Ludlow Birmingham Lancaster Wings, Shell Casings, Bombs
Reynold Birmingham Spitfire Wing Spars, Light Alloy Tubing
GEC Birmingham Plastic Components
SU Carburettors Birmingham Aero-carburettors
Birmingham Small Arms Factory Birmingham Rifles, sten guns (100% of all made)

[Blaine]

You guys, and the Russians did a lot of heavy carrying until we got off the dime.....

[perry owens]

Like GK's dad, my dad was a fireman during the war,in the East London docks area. His crew used to collect broken mirror and stained glass from bombed houses and churches to make kaleidoscopes for the local kids. When I started school in the late 40's there was still an anti aircraft gun emplacement next to the school and an abandoned Italian POW camp down the road. Big scandal when one of my teachers married one of the Italians who had stayed on.
There's an interesting web site that shows where the blitz bombs fell here: http://bombsight.org/#16/51.5078/-0.0898

Perry

[Old No7]

Wow Perry...
When you zoom out, the cluster of dots makes it hard to imagine that anything/anyone survived the London Blitz.

I recall my late father visiting London with surviving members of the 4th Fighter Group 40 years after they'd left the Debden airbase in 1945... A story is told that all the men wept upon arrival because "The ground didn't shake..." -- and they realized that London was at peace.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys.

Old No7

[jeepnik]

Seems to me it wasn't that long ago another UXB was unearthed.