15th September. Battle Of Britain Day

Just stumbled across this…I used to live just down from here when at college at Camberwell and remember those stretcher railings…and the mounds of. The filled in air raid shelters behind them.Just up from this was the old Grammer school on the corner of the junction with Wilson Road ( across from the church). There were two emergency water supply signs painted (faded) on the wall…don’t know if any of this is still there now the shelter direction were still painted on the church wall down by ‘the Oval’ tube station.
My friend was lodging in a house just down from here at the top of Southampton Way,he showed me a large communal air raid shelter in the back garden..still had rusted remains of beds and gas masks in there…in this was in 1989.

Andy Saunders should be recognised in the New Years honours list M.B.E at least. I also gave to the ATC Cadets on duty in Bedford yesterday and got my sticker. I wonder how many of the general public knew it was Battle of Britain Day ?

I full heartedly aggree as the letters “MBE” actually stand for “my bloody efforts” yet so many people who do nothing get a “OBE” awarded..but as we all know those letters stand for “other buggars efforts”:D

In my mind Andy should get a bl**dy knighthood

p.s. It is possible that KBP HQ is actually Kennington Borough Police HQ but I would say it’s still wartime vintage.
I wonder if the original Police Station was bombed out because what was the actual Police station further down the road was replaced with a new building in the 70’s. So it’s possible the Police used the library as a temporary base?

Ladywell Road near Lewisham. Supprised this has survived as it looks like white wash.

Peckham High Street. I wonder how many people realise the railings are actually stretchers.

If you look close you can see the handles and feet.

Andy Saunders should be recognised in the New Years honours list M.B.E at least. I also gave to the ATC Cadets on duty in Bedford yesterday and got my sticker. I wonder how many of the general public knew it was Battle of Britain Day ?

Personnly I think its time now that the Goverment gave their full backing to Andy Saunders and others who spend thier own hard earned cash and time to do the job that the goverment should be doing, bringing peace of mind to those families who lost their loved ones who paid the price for our freedom which sometimes is abused today by some.
As a ex serviceman who’s father, uncles and other family relatives fought in both world wars I will always be indebted to those who paid the ultimate price.
I know Andy and others have even put thier own freedom at risk in the past to carry out those digs where the aircrew have no known graves at the families/groundowners request yet the goverment ignore these requests on the basis it will mean they cannot afford another office refurbishment at some unknown backstreet office.

To you Andy I say thank you.

Rant over 😀

An RAF celebration

I’m currently overseas with work and a serviceable lander enabled us to go to the Battle of Britain dinner provided by the civilian catering staff. There was beef Wellington, chicken, bacon and banana fritters, apple pie, bread and butter pudding….it was all ranks, and very good (if informal) fun. We were permitted a beer with our meal, and the mess was decorated with placemats (in reality A4 print offs) of Spitfires, Hurricanes and Messerschmitts. Flags of the allied countries in WWII that flew in the Battle hung as bunting from the wall. In short it was impressive. We ALL made it to the event, which was continued after the meal with the Battle of Britain film on the big screen (projector!). All the lads kept asking me all the questions and all was going well until 1hr 50mins when the Ops Officer decided to turn it off for the silent hours. After a bit of grumbling and most having gone to bed, my FS went up to him and said, ” What are you doing?”. His finger started to point to the orders, when said FS mentioned very firmly, “It’s Battle of Britain night, turn it back on!” We got to see the end of our film. The Ops bloke is fairly young and has a huge chip on his shoulder that seems to be counterbalanced by the other one on his other shoulder!! To even consider turning it off though (there was a small dedicated audience, and a football match on the TV) without having the guts to mention it beforehand was very weak of him, and a sad indication of what little the 15th September means in our society (and RAF community) today. A fantastic night only marred with a small hiccup. I hope you celebrated the day with a little something special.

Circus 6

re;

I used to live near Camberwell and can remember shrapnel damage to an old Victorian lamp post near by. The Shelter signs at Brockley Rise. Stretchers made into railings. The home guard sign on the local library. These still exist today and I have pictures if anyone is interested.

Please post most interesting

Some pics, more later.

Kennington Lane library. I’m sure this was the Home Guard HQ.

Shelter in Tower Bridge Road

West Malling Pilot

BB …Forgot I had this .

Just messing about in spare room , looking for plastic kit I hadnt built & forgot I had this . Probably 70 yrs old , bit of WW2 utility . Very thin copper style alloy , mounted on cardboard .

Strange I should re-discover it & give it a dust down today !!

Yes, well said Trolley Aux.
I still have strong memories of watching some of the action, even though I was only 8.

Very well said T Aux, fully agree. Outstanding work from Andy and Co.

I made a small donation in Southend today, and got my sticker.

I had an interesting chat with the chap doing the collection. He was at RAF Topcliffe, working on ATC. In the days when they had Varsities there.

Never was so much owed…

I, for one, will raise a glass to the memory of the Few later on.

yes post please I for one would like to see them

Also try to think of the amazing spectacle. Hard to imagine on a sunny Autumn day that hundreds of enemy aircraft would have been passing overhead. I live near Blackbush and would be interested what happened here. Did any aircraft do battle or fall to earth?

I used to live near Camberwell and can remember shrapnel damage to an old Victorian lamp post near by. The Shelter signs at Brockley Rise. Stretchers made into railings. The home guard sign on the local library. These still exist today and I have pictures if anyone is interested.

True, very well said.

Well said, we shall remember them.