Air Raid Shelters etc

April 1939

Annewiggy/NormK. Sure looks like a shelter to me thanks, I wonder how the one in Broadgate fared? But what's amazing to me is the date April, so I wonder when shelters were issued, when the guns were installed, and when we had soldiers billeted on us, when the ARP formed, always thought September time. Now it looks badly out. I didn't think we were so far ahead at that time. Does the CET do back number papers or do you have to go the full paper archives?

This shows one being installed outside Buckingham Palace 30th August 1939

I've managed to find a better (and certainly clearer) photo of the "One Person Air Raid Shelter" in Pool Meadow and this photo was taken around about 5-10 years after a similar photo that I posted on here a few days ago. This time you'll notice that the shelter has received a coat of paint and has gained a light coloured top and from what I've read, it was painted maroon and cream. Does anyone know whereabouts exactly an identical shelter was located in Broadgate, as I'll try and find a photo of it if I can?

Thanks for posting this latest photo, which confirms what I thought, that I remember seeing it in Pool Meadow - the no.23 service was not introduced until 1959, but the photo is even later than that as bus no.315 only came into service in 1963 Obviously the shelter served another purpose for many years post-WWII

CKV1D, MR. Had there been one in Broadgate at the time of the 'blitz' it would hardly have survived, very little could survive that inferno. One cannot remember those days too clearly, but it's close to the entrance, I think the entrance was smaller so it would have been noticeable. One has to consider that things were not black and white like today, we had twelve months of 'phoney' war and things had become a bit lax. Also anyone in Pool Meadow was as close to the back of the fire station as anywhere else, I believe they had a shelter out back, the phones were down quite early so I believe the staff took cover, believe it or not they used a schoolboy to take messages (during that inferno), it would have been as quick for any bus staff to have used it as well. There is the blackout to consider as well, most buses stopped earlier than they should for the blackout was a nightmare, many buses hit things, mounted pavements, events too numerous to be recorded, many things recorded were wrong too, simply because word of mouth got twisted. MR. Just a point of interest, and the way it came to me. Little Park St and Much Park St were burned down the following day, yet Parkside, A Siddeley, suffered little fire damage, simply because they did have a water tank, they tackled fires quickly and with less water. I think the tank was not a wartime thing but an insurance, to keep premiums down, before the war.

CKV, a report in the Coventry Standard, June 1939, says "In the event if a national emergency a conical steel shelter may be erected on the "island" at the Trinity Street junction with Broadgate.

"THANK YOU" ever so much Annewiggy for your much appreciated reply regarding the shelter, as its possible location now from you has given me something to go on and I'll certainly do my best to hopefully try and find it? ("FINGERS CROSSED"!)

A disaster you may not know about was Bethnal Green tube station, 1943.

We have discussed this before, but the latest google map shows clearly what I should imagine are the air raid shelters or the entrance to them. Would there have been so many or are they something else ?

I remember there was a conical steel shelter (for one person) in Pool Meadow when I was a child. Maybe it moved from bottom of Trinity St? Always thought it was for a policeman.

Prof. Look back to post #59

Annewiggy, have no idea what part of Coventry that is or what date, or what kind of shelter? Amazing after two years we come back to this topic, did anyone look up the Bethnal Green tragedy I posted - this was an air raid shelter that went horribly wrong, they tried to escape and 170 people were crushed to death. People should have seen the Anderson shelter my father put in the garden, he copied many gadgets from the WWI trenches, plus all the nick-nacks of a family living and sleeping in a cramped space from the canal boat cabins. I remember the long hard job of filling hundreds of sand bags, but we slept comfortable and cosy through many a long night. A surface shelter collapsed in Much Park Street, a great number of men were killed, then a surface shelter in Bull Yard had the wall blown down - the very heavy roof came down and crushed many people, the smoke from all the fires filled the shelters, causing problems. Not the success people wanted

Kaga, the picture is Radford Rec, on the corner between Radford Road and Lydgate Road. Air raid shelters were a bit before my time but I have seen a picture of one in Radford School grounds that appears to go underground. I would be interested to know what these were. Played on the rec so often and did not know they were there. I imagine the powers that be thought the Germans would aim for the Daimler and the Dunlop, as they did.

Here's a link