Bombs over Glasgow in WW2

[crusty_bint]

Found this pic ages ago and totally forgot to post it! It's th Easterhouse Anti Aircraft Battery, no date for the pic tho:


Looks as though it was situated just to the west of Wellhouse Rd (blue line), the demolition patches (red trapezoid) on the google earth image:

[escotregen]

Crusty, now be gentle with me and don’t do your dominant mod bit if you think I’m going a bit off topic here .

Your superb black and white on the Easterhouse AA station prompted a number of thoughts in my ex-Easterhouse resident’s mind. Firstly, it recorded the lush Lanarkshire countryside that was sacrificed to make posssible Easterhouse, Cranhill, Barlarnock etc.

Secondly, in all my years of growing up in Easterhouse (and discovering more ancient things like lost Roman roads) I never heard anyone mention anything of there having been an AA station in the midst of what became Easterhouse. Yet I can remember many, many, stories from the ‘older yins’ about their experiences in the older parts of Glasgow and the wider metro region.

I suspect this illustrates the cultural dislocation caused by the clearance of the older inner city communities and the removal of their residents to soulless locations without a sense of local history or identity.

The third thought is on the vast new swaths of green land that have opened up in Easterhouse in the Google shot. These of course are re-appearing as chunks of Easterhouse are being demolished and cleared… Is this a case of Déjà vu all over again?

Well, I suppose we better get back to the topic of the war then

[crusty_bint]

I tell ye, its a thankless task modding!!

Plonked in a sea of three story foam slag, verandas and pebble dash they were, with only one fruit and veg van to go round the lot of them! Poor bastards. Shame the new greenspaces are all to be filled with GHA'a semi's... and I don't mean impotent board members

[Socceroo]

I would agree with you Crusty, the Easterhouse Ack – Ack site appears to be Wellhouse Road. Where would that fit into the list below? – Queenslie Industrial Estate?

From various websites, books and the Mitchell, the following is given as the addresses of the main Anti – Aircraft Installations and Support :

Main Clyde Valley / Glasgow Anti – Aircraft Sites

North Clyde

N1 – Queenslie Industrial Estate
N2 – Rushyhill, South Lenzie
N3 – Blackhill Farm, Balmuidy
N4 – Bearsden at Chesterton Road / Station Road
N5 – Craigmaddie
N6 – Khyber Pass, Craigend
N7 – Duntiglennan Farm, Duntocher
N8 – Gooseholm Farm, Dumbarton
N9 – Geilston, Cardross
N10 – Upper Helensburgh
N11 – Garelochead
N12 – Coulport, Loch Long

South Clyde

S1 – Blantyre Farm
S2 – Aitkenhead Road, Kings Park
S3 – Ralston Golf Club
S4 – Foxbar at Paisley / Barrhead Road
S5 – Neilston at Barrhead / Lugton Road
S6 – Linwood
S7 – Drumcross Farm, Bishopton
S8 – Whinhill, Greenock

Anti – Aircraft Support

Anti – Aircraft Divisional HQ – Sprinkell Avenue, Pollokshields, Glasgow

Command Supply Depot – Palace of Art, Bellahouston Park

Searchlight Sites HQ – Auchendennan House, Loch Lomond

Ammunition Depot (North Clyde) – Balmuidy Road, Bishopbriggs

Ammunition Depot (South Clyde) – Georgetown, Renfrewshire

Balloon Barrage – Low Moss, Bishopbriggs

Artificial Smoke – Dyke Road, Knightswood

The Imperial War Museum apparently have a list of map co-ordinates for the main Anti – Aircraft sites. I have requested these with some more info on bomb sites.

Also as per one of my previous postings on this thread, there is a photo in the Imperial War Museum website which shows Aitkenhead House getting used also as an area HQ, although it is not listed in the main archive lists from the same source?

Anyone live near any of the Ack – Ack sites listed above? Anyone heard any local stories about the installations – where they were sited etc?

[crusty_bint]

I think it can only be N1 Queenslie, none of the others are anywhere near it. I think PGCC posted stuff regarding Aikenhead House a good while back... here's the link: >Aikenhead House<

[crusty_bint]

N6 Khyber Pass - Craigend... which Craigend do you know??? There's a Craigend beside Garthamlock nestled under the water towers, think thats it? I think thats also the highest hill in Glasgow so might have been a good place furr a gun?

[AlanM]

N6 Khyber Pass - Craigend... which Craigend do you know??? There's a Craigend beside Garthamlock nestled under the water towers, think thats it? I think thats also the highest hill in Glasgow so might have been a good place furr a fun?

Thats Mugdock Crusty

[Socceroo]

Aye, Khyber Pass - Craigend i think is Mugdock.

[crusty_bint]

That would make sense actually... following the order of the sites ...there's that many feckin Craigends in and around this city!

[AlanM]

The Artificial Smoke instalation on Dyke Rd, I had a look at the area on Google Earth and the housing in that area is all pre war so that suggests to me that it would have been on the lower part of the Road near the railway line. This would also make sense as the prevailing wind would then carry the smoke over Yarrows and maybe even as far as the Govan Shipyard.

[escotregen]

Don't you worry Crusty, you're a very good mod and it's essential indeed.

By the way, we must have lived in the posh bit of Easterhouse 'cos we had two 'mobile shops' at the start AND a manky big chippy van every Friday and Saturday late night ("Ma van's jist here the wance a night Jimmy so yi huve to hurry up and jist take whit we've goat"). After a couple of years we had Reilly the Butchers (out of Tollcross I think) and Askeys the caramel wafer and baker people.

And they think they had it hard in the War!

[Apollo]

What I'm really looking for is a downloadable map that I can highlight the streets. Stumped!

Having said you couldn't do something along those lines, time to eat some words, and pass on some info for anyone that can live with some html coding.

I've just installed the Google Maps API and now have my own zoomable, pannable and customisable maps working away on my own test web page.

I've only sped-read over the options available, but it's clear that you can drop Google's own map icon on spots easily, or your own if you're fussy.

Customised lines (polylines) can be added, to highlight streets as requested above, and these look to be fairly straightforward, just needing an array of lattitudes and longitudes to define them.

There a wad of things it will do, and they're things I've wanted in the past, so I'll be going back to play with this later, but I'm in the middle of too many other unfinished things to play with it properly just now

But, I did have it working and customised in less than 5 minutes, so it can't be that difficult to do straightforward plotting. More complex stuff, well...

[radar]

Socceroo,
Sorry I cant help with any of the city sites you listed but here are two possibilities to the north west.

I seem to recall that the Garelochhead site (N11) was up the hill on the right hand side of the A814 (the old road, not the present one) as you left the village heading for Arrochar. There were some army buildings up there during the 1960s and I'm sure I was told that it had been the AA gun site covering the Gareloch and No 1 Military Port (Faslane). Looking at a map of the area I would have put it around grid ref NS237922.

The other site I have some memories of was Geilston, Cardross (N9). It was located between the railway and the river near to Murrays Farm. There were still brick structures there back in the early 70s and I dont think the site has ever been developed so it could be worth a look. Grid ref I would have put at NS338773.

R

[motman]

There is also remnants of an ack-ack station on the Rosneath penninsula. If you take the old Peaton Road, at the top looking south towards Kilcreggan the old walls can be seen on the horizon.

[Socceroo]

Thanks radar and motman for the information on the Ack - Ack sites, i will certainly investigate these sites.

I think i know exactly where to look for the Garelochead site, i know the old A814 route, that would seem to be as good a location as any for the Guns covering that area.

And a good excuse for a wee trip to Rosneath also to take some photo's.

Cheers
Socceroo