View Full Version : WW2 London bomb census maps online
http://www.bombsight.org
Although I'm having problems getting it to work right now.
Glad I'm not the only one! I can contract it, but there are so many bombs, I can't see the land beneath:eek:
I too am having problems with the site. I am looking for King William Walk London SE10 (Deptford/Greenwich) which I know took a direct hit in May 1941.
I have found the map, but I can't seem to access any individual information. I was hoping to find info about the bomb that landed near Anerley Road Nursery in Penge, where my Mum was working as a nursery nurse in WW2. The church nearby was damaged and when the all clear sounded she found a chunk of masonry on her bed.
Nell, have you seen this page?
Bombing at Anerley Road, Penge (http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/V1_summary_se20.html)
I can see the right area on a regular map, but haven't managed ot on the bombing map!
maggie_4_7
08-12-12, 08:07
When I was small and my mum used to take me out shopping or something everywhere we went she used to say a bomb dropped there you know - I used to say yeah yeah yeah but out of all the ones she told me about I just looked up the two I remember mainly because one was in these flats and sure enough she was right exactly where she pointed and the other one was in the road she lived in before moving out after the bombing and sure enough there it is.
I recently did a talk on an ordinary local street. One end solidly victorian, the other sixties low rise flats. When I investigated, the bomb maps explained the reason.
I can't begin to imagine what living through WW2 was like as a civilian, but having invested so much effort into researching a small area, it was a huge shock to read of the damage to individual houses.
I am now much more aware of single modern houses in a pre-war street and wondering at the story behind it.
Sue at the seaside
08-12-12, 09:40
Interestingly, all the bomb sites that OH and I used to play on aren't listed! so what's going on there then???
Also the sites of two "modern" out of character blocks of flats that were built on what we were told were bomb sites aren't listed either!
I've found a couple that I know of, but loads that I can't.
Merry
I am in your debt once again. Thank you sooooo much!
Interestingly, all the bomb sites that OH and I used to play on aren't listed! so what's going on there then???
Also the sites of two "modern" out of character blocks of flats that were built on what we were told were bomb sites aren't listed either!
I've found a couple that I know of, but loads that I can't.
Is it possible the ones you mention were bombed outside of the dates of the site? (7th October 1940 to 6th June 1941). Seems fairly unlikely, but just a thought.
Is it possible the ones you mention were bombed outside of the dates of the site? (7th October 1940 to 6th June 1941). Seems fairly unlikely, but just a thought.
There was a lot of bombing much later in the war. Our local studies library has divided it in separate volumes. A great deal of damage seems to have been suffered by properties previously weakened. Don't quote me, but circa 1944.
yeah don't forgot the v2 (rocket type) bombs that came at the end of the war
Oh this is fabulous
Thank you Rachel :-)
Oh this is fabulous
Thank you Rachel :-)
How do you make it work, Rachel?
Sue at the seaside
09-12-12, 15:53
What's your problem with it "working" Merry?
I've just been double clicking, it zooms in, showing the individual bombs, then click on a bomb for details.
Perhaps fewer people are using it today? This is the first time I've seen the information.
(And in my role of grumpy old woman, they have taken the original addresses, converted them to map references and then stuck them onto a modern map. The problem with a bomb is that it does destroy what was there, so a modern address doesn't hint at how awful it was.)
The search box doesn't work
What's your problem with it "working" Merry?
The search box doesn't work and if I zoom out slightly in order to move across to the right area I can't see the map because of all the bomb markers. I have not been able to find one single address I need yet.
Sue at the seaside
09-12-12, 18:57
See what you mean about the search. I hadn't used that! I'd just looked at the areas of the map that I was interested in (all East London!)
I agree about locations being generalised, A house that the family lived in was deffo bombed and a park is there in it's place! the park is there on the maps and the bomb marked is quite a way up the road!
I need to zoom out and look at the curves of the river to even have a hope of finding the right part, but I can't see enough to zoom back in at the right point.
The search box doesn't work and if I zoom out slightly in order to move across to the right area I can't see the map because of all the bomb markers. I have not been able to find one single address I need yet.
switch off the bombs
go to the thing, top right, which looks like a stack of 3 papers ~ it's a drop down menu
untick 'bomb incidents'
Oh, I didn't know you could do that! lol
I've just looked at the descriptions of the locations, and they are baffling. Central Croydon is described as South Norwood, and South Croydon as Kenley. Whatever admistrative unit they are using, it is not ward or parish.
Oh, I didn't know you could do that! lol
Administrator ? cuh ! :d
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