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Overview
In Walking the London Blitz, Clive Harris guides you on a highly informative tour through one of World War II’s most pivotal and devastating military campaigns. By means of seven easily manageable walks and accompanying maps and photographs, anyone—from history buffs to tourists to seasoned armchair travelers—can experience the significant sites of those dark days when the German Luftwaffe relentlessly bombed Great Britain between 1940 and 1941.
Some of the walking tours include: Bank Station to London Bridge Station; Ludgate Circus to Trafalgar Square; Marble Arch to the Cabinet War Rooms; Hyde Park Corner to Westminster; and London Bridge to St. Paul’s. Using rich anecdotes and first-hand accounts, the suffering and bravery of ordinary Britons in the face of Hitler’s V-weapon attacks comes to life.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781783037292 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pen & Sword Books Limited |
| Publication date: | 02/20/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 160 |
| Sales rank: | 428,478 |
| File size: | 63 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
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Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Walk One
Bank to London Bridge
Starting point – Bank Station (Central/Northern/District/Circle Lines) Finish point – London Bridge Station (Terminus/Northern Line)
On arrival at Bank underground station make your way to the booking hall and climb to street level via EXIT 3. The impressive building in front of you is the Royal Exchange, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham to compete with major European market places in 1566. The present building has stood here since 1842 and by 1939 had been converted to office space. It was largely undamaged during the war. A prominent feature during this time was the huge banner proclaiming 'DIG FOR VICTORY'. To begin with turn around and face west. The busy road junction in front of you is one of the main arteries of the city. Part of a seven-way interchange, it includes the crossroads of Threadneedle Street, Cornhill, Poultry and King William Street. Beneath it is the rotunda that makes up the booking hall of Bank tube station. This was once known as 'the biggest crater in London'.
On 11 January 1941 a mixed force of He-111s and Ju-88s, comprising some 145 aircraft, raided the city and dropped over 140 tonnes of high explosive and 21,000 incendiary bombs. At 7.59pm this junction took a direct hit. The bomb tore through the thin street layer and caused the booking hall to collapse. The blast was then driven down the escalator shaft on to the two central line platforms where a large number of people were queuing to use the toilet facilities situated on the upper concourse. In this single incident one hundred and eleven people lost their lives, one of the highest death tolls during the Blitz. Among the members of the civil defence who perished here were PC Arthur Beagley from Greenwich, on duty with the City of London Police, and forty-nine-year-old Kate Barritt, an East Ender from Bethnal Green who worked in the WVS canteen. One shelterer, Dr Leitner, despite being wounded, worked tirelessly administering what basic medical care he could to the injured until the official relief parties reached them an hour later. Neither his actions nor the disaster itself are commemorated here, but are more than worthy of a mention.
Before we leave this spot there is a very impressive monument to the men of the City of London who died in the Great War. Taking care of the traffic, cross over to Threadneedle Street and the Bank of England building to the left of the Royal Exchange. The Bank of England was founded in 1694 but the building standing today was completed between 1936 and 1939. When only just over a year old, it was hit on the night of 9 September 1940 near its south-west corner, damaging the bank's busy telephone exchange and switchboard. Alongside the still bustling entrance is a rather quaint night porter bell that predates the Blitz period and is still in use today. Alas, its speaker tube is no longer functional, according to staff at the museum.
Continuing east along the building turn left into Bartholomew Lane, where you will find the Bank of England Museum. Open weekdays only, between 10am and 5pm, this free museum provides a fascinating review of the history of money and, in the Rotunda room, contains a small but informative display of the Bank in wartime. On show are a number of artefacts, including fragments of incendiaries dropped on the Bank and a collection of good contemporary photographs showing the devastation caused outside by the 11 January incident. Security at the museum is reassuringly tight, but I found the staff most helpful and knowledgeable.
On leaving the museum turn left and at the bottom of Bartholomew Lane to the right is Throgmorton Street. This ancient alley runs behind the Stock Exchange and was the scene of much activity on 16 October 1940. During what was described officially as a 'light raid', a nearby office building caught fire and auxiliary fire fighter Daniel McEvoy and Henry Maclean, a volunteer firewatcher for the premises, were killed during the blaze. That night thirteen German aircraft were destroyed and forty-six Londoners lost their lives.
Returning to Threadneedle Street, use the crossing that takes you to Royal Exchange Buildings, a cut through to Cornhill. A number of the original structures that stood here were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and this marks the limit of its advance. The Great Fire was a key point in London's long history, a legacy of this being the wide streets we find in the capital today, providing natural firebreaks. This planning policy proved vital during the autumn and spring of 1940/1941. Pass the granite memorial to Paul Reuter whose world news organization was founded near this spot in 1851 and still exists today. On entering Cornhill you see an unusual blue metal structure. This is a water pump on the site of an ancient well and was provided for public use in 1799, following contributions from the Bank of England, the East India Company and local Fire Offices. Whoever paid for it, the men of the Auxiliary Fire Service were thankful, as the pump then came into its own, so desperate was the need for water in this area during the Blitz.
Head east down Cornhill and you see a lantern for Old Simpson's Tavern. Standing under this you find a narrow alleyway, Ball Court. Follow this, for the narrow cobbles stretch to a collection of bars and restaurants that provide a rare glimpse of old London that has survived both the great fires of 1666 and 1940. Try to imagine the chaos that would have been caused by one H.E. bomb or a single canister of fire spurting incendiary devices landing here. Fortune has indeed smiled on this place. Continue following the passage through St Michael's Alley until it brings you back out on to Cornhill, passing The Jamaica Inn, site of London's first coffee house, a fashion that swept the capital in the 1700s. The fading notice in the window provides a history of the building and may in fact predate the Blitz as there is no mention of the war.
St Michael's Church is today a peaceful refuge for city workers and an active place of worship. As with all the churches mentioned on the walks in this book, please bear this in mind when visiting. Before entering, note the old pre-war marking for a double water hydrant on the pavement outside the church entrance, a prayer answered for many a fire-fighter sixty years or so ago. On entering the church we find a number of interesting memorials. On the back left wall is a plaque to Mullens & Co, a firm of stockbrokers that remembers its staff who were killed during the war. Near to this can be found the memorial for The County of London Electrical Supply Company, commemorating both wars. This plaque unusually lists more 1939/45 names than those of the Great War. This is perhaps due to the expansion of electricity and increased staff levels between the two wars. London Electricity still has strong links with St Michael's. In addition to holding an annual memorial service, they also provide fresh flowers to be placed here monthly.
Before leaving, notice hanging from the back right wall the colours of the 10th Royal Fusiliers. Recruited from men of the Stock Exchange and a good example of the fact that London also provided 'Pals' battalions, this unit saw action as part of the 37th Division on the Somme, at Arras and Ypres. The roll of honour is contained in a bronze-hinged frame that opens up and provides a poignant reminder of the horrific casualties sustained by a single infantry battalion between 1914-1918.
On leaving the church turn right on Cornhill and continue straight over Bishopsgate into Leadenhall Street. Constantine FitzGibbon described this area in 1940:
'The city was a strangely broken horizon of roofs and chimney pots, with blank, bright windows. The Baltic Exchange was magical, the huge empty offices of the insurance companies in Leadenhall Street romantic and pitiful too, for insurance was something that belonged to another age.'(i)
After a short distance on the right you will see the covered entrance to the old Leadenhall Market; go in. The Romans built their forum on this site and a market has existed here since the 14th century. It takes its name, Leadenhall, from the huge glass and lead roof that adorned it. This was partially damaged during the Great Fire. Its current cover was rebuilt in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones, architect of both Smithfield and Bishopsgate. Despite being a fragile structure, it remained one of the few buildings in this area undamaged during the war, most of its neighbours being totally destroyed. Leave via Leadenhall Lane, left at the Lamb Pub, towards Lime Street. On exiting, look back. The glass façade that marks the eastern entrance to the market was damaged during the Blitz, although this was from a falling anti-aircraft 'rocket shell', not enemy action. It is often suggested by veterans of the civil defence services that the majority of minor injuries caused to them were from falling anti-aircraft shrapnel during the raids.
You are now entering an area of complete devastation from the night of 10/11 May 1941. This night marked the largest and final major raid on the city. The weather was perfect for bombing, with minimal cloud. Over 500 aircraft raided the capital, some crews returning twice to drop their payload of 711 tons of H.E. and over 86,000 incendiaries between 2300 and 0530hrs. A firewatcher on top of the Lloyds building described the scene thus:
'The sky was full of planes in constant procession like bank holiday traffic on the Southend Road.'
As you enter Lime Street all but one of the buildings on the eastern side of the road was gutted. The survivor dates back to 1929 and today, somewhat ironically houses a German Bank.
On your left the imposing Lloyd's Building is a 'masterpiece' from a different era and is constructed on the spot of the previous Lloyd's premises, Royal Mail House. This huge building, completed in the late 1920s, stood on 1.5 acres of land right in the heart of the city and formed the HQ for zone C3 fireguard during the war. The basements of the building were soon transformed into dormitories and, except during raids, sleeping in offices overnight by staff was permitted. This ensured that the important day-to-day work of Lloyd's of London went ahead. The numbers of shelterers steadily increased as the bombing continued and a growing number of staff found themselves homeless. In addition, a Friends Ambulance Unit Shelter was added, the nightly population in the building reaching over 300.
The company insisted that at least two firewatchers were posted on the roof during a raid and a number of men acting as quick-reaction forces were on standby within the building. This policy meant that many a night was passed playing rooftop quoits while the watchers had 'nothing to report'. During major raids, however, the men of Lloyd's not only witnessed the destruction of many important buildings such as the Guildhall and the Port of London Authority but also saw the near misses on London Bridge and St Paul's. The fact that the Lloyds building survived the war with only 'shattered windows, doors and honourable scars' is a tribute to the men and women engaged in its civil defence. In the months following 10/11 May Lloyd's stood alone like a giant headstone on the grave of the city.
The records which the staff at Lloyd's kept provide us with an accurate description of the blitz. The following entry is taken from the logbook for the night of 9 October 1940, during which the High Altar of St Paul's was damaged and the city sustained over 400 civilian casualties:
5.56 AM – Stick of four H.E. bombs being dropped overhead, 1st near Mappin & Webb, 2nd in the middle of Cornhill, 3rd in Leadenhall Street, the damage of 1st as yet unknown but 2nd and 3rd fractured gas mains. The 4th demolished Ellerman & Bucknall office. Only damage to Lloyd's building was a few broken windows.
6.30 AM – Three large fires in Shoreditch direction that were under control in a remarkably short space of time.
7.06 AM – All Clear.(ii)
We leave Lime Street via Fenchurch Avenue turning right into Billiter Street and head south crossing over Fenchurch Street and bear to the right into Mark Lane. The area you have passed through has no building of interest to stop and look at, simply because nothing survived, the entire area being 'coventrated', to use a Luftwaffe contemporary phrase. As you continue south along Mark Lane you reach a solitary Church Tower of obvious age. This stands alone among its modern neighbours as a further reminder of the devastation caused in May 1941. The Tower of All Hallows, Staining, dates back to 1320. It survived the Great Fire, although the adjacent Clothworkers Hall was razed to the ground. The number of burials in the churchyard apparently contributed to the weakening of its foundations and led to the church collapsing in 1671. The church merged with St Olave's in Hart Street in 1870 but the tower is still maintained by the Clothworkers Company, which first forged links with it over 300 years ago.
Continue down Mark Lane to the junction with Hart Street. Pass the entrance to St Olave's (the patron saint of Norway), right into Seething Lane and, heading south, enter the small courtyard at the rear of the church where a bench can be found. St Olave's appears a number of times in the history of London. Founded in the 11th century this is the fourth building on the spot. It crops up frequently in Samuel Pepys' diary and he is buried in the crypt alongside a number of plague victims and the original Mother Goose. Charles Dickens referred to it as his 'favourite church in London'. The third building on this site was destroyed between April and May 1941. The original fire-damaged brickwork is visible, combined with a more modern structure of 1954. The remains of the tower itself were incorporated in the current building. On leaving St Olave's continue south past the large Naval Office and small fenced-off park where Pepys worked. A number of buildings and alleyways still bear his name. You will then come out onto Byward Street.
Look right; on the night of 10/11 May an out-of-control fire was creeping in your direction from the Great Tower Street and Mark Lane junction and was by now a considerable threat to the Tower itself. The job of saving it fell to an 'old sweat' fire-fighter, Station Officer James Ellis. Unfortunately the promised pumps from Kent had yet to arrive and, with the water mains gone, he desperately needed a hose-laying lorry to relay water from the Thames 200 yards away. Heading west, he went in search of one, but, on locating it, found the driver less than keen to move, saying that the road was impassable. Ellis jumped on the running board and guided the driver:
'Through potholes, over piles of brick, with the flames fanning across the street, where we were almost blinded by drifting dust and the shimmering red reflection. Smeared with soot, my eyes streaming and choking with acrid smoke I arrived at the control point. A somewhat surprised Superintendent Joe Ayling, my chief, asked curiously ?Where did you go for that?? ?To hell and back? was my reply.'(iii)
Before we leave this area, one last look up Great Tower Street fails to reveal one of the individual tragedies that took place here on the night of 29 December 1940. While most of the city burned under the worst incendiary raid on London of the war, sixteen-year-old Godfrey Emmerson, a boy scout who had enlisted in the Home Guard, died at his home, No 55 Great Tower Street.
Opposite you is All Hallows by the Tower. To reach it take the subway under busy Byward Street. The steps you go down are the entrances to the original Tower Hill underground station. All Hallows boasts a history comparable with the Tower of London itself, a number of its beheaded victims being laid to rest there. For those with the time a very informative audio tour is available for a small charge. Remember, though, that this is an active place of worship. Tours are only available daily between 10.00 and 16.00hrs and it is closed on Bank Holidays. There has been a church here for over 1300 years and it is the final resting place of many Bishops and Archbishops. This was the spot where Samuel Pepys stood and watched the Great Fire in 1666, but the building was itself to succumb to another Great Fire in 1941 before being rebuilt in 1958. The Vicar during the war years was Tubby Clayton, who was instrumental in setting up the 'Toc-H' Everyman's Club in Poperinghe. He was much loved by veterans of the Great War and is buried here. Much has been written about him but he can best be summed up by the fact that after the war he kept on his batman, employing him as the family cook and, despite mixing in London's high society, would insist on eating 'trench food' as served by his faithful servant. Anyone with an interest in the Great War should take this opportunity to pay him a visit.
Leaving the church, turn right and follow Byward Street heading towards the Tower. The grand building on the opposite side of the road is the Port of London Authority Building. It took a direct hit during the raid of 10/11 May. In front stands the memorial to merchant seaman missing in both wars. The Tower of London itself takes a full day to go round. For us, though, enter the black iron gates at the top of Tower Hill which give a view of its northern wall. About a third of the way along there is a viewing area. Stop here. Before the war, on the North Bastion was a semicircular structure similar to those at each corner. This was destroyed by a direct hit on the night of 5 October 1940. Yeoman Warder Sam Reeves was killed in the incident. When the remains of the structure were pulled down much older brickwork was uncovered and the curtain wall was rebuilt on this original line, replacing the Victorian bastion. The more recent brickwork is visible. 5 October marked an improvement in weather for the Luftwaffe crews and enabled them to raid London heavily between 23.00hrs and 06.00hrs. Sam Reeves was one of 45 Londoners killed and 329 injured during that day's raids.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Walking the London Blitz"
by .
Copyright © 2011 Clive Harris.
Excerpted by permission of Pen and Sword Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface,
Walk 1 Bank to London Bridge,
Walk 2 Ludgate Circus to Trafalgar Square,
Walk 3 Marble Arch to the Cabinet War Rooms,
Walk 4 Hyde Park Corner to Westminster,
Walk 5 London Bridge to St Paul's,
Appendix I – Britain's Civil Defence,
Appendix II – The Luftwaffe,
Appendix III – Associated Visits,