Bombs over Glasgow in WW2

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EWS Emergency Water Supply

Postby Pgcc93 » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:12 am

One of the major hazards during WW2 was the threat of incendiary bombs.
Such was the risk many business's employed staff to carry out Fire Watch duties which involved long periods on rooftops usualy at night. There was a healthy spin-off in Fire Watch Ladders being erected to allow thorough inspection of roofspaces.

It was acknowledged early on in the war that fire could do more damage than even the heaviest of bombing raids by the Luftwaffe.

As water mains were early casualties after a raid local authorities set up additional means of water supply by means of large street borne cisterns in various locations around the city. The water would have been fed to the fire hoses by manualy operated or steam driven pumps.

Their location was marked in large letters on buildings at street level with arrows and distance markers.
Many of them remained for a number of years after the war and were responsible for number of drownings involving children.

This example is on Blythswood Street at St Vincent Street indicating that it was 200 yards away.

Blythswood Square would have been a good location due to it's postion on top of a hill where the gravity effect would have assisted in firehose performance at the lower reaches.

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A typical EWS
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WW2 posters raising awareness of the fire risk due to incendiary devices

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Postby junkcatcher » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:55 pm

Because it was on the the route from continental Europe to clydeside the Hamilton area had a few major AA sites at least one of which was given radar controlled heavy guns and remained in use durring part of the cold war.

The Blantyre "Ferme Road" site is pretty well gone back to nature and will sooner or later fall into the hands of a developer for new housing who ever buys it will have a lot of very tough WW2 reinforced concrete to deal with ---- not like namby-pamby 1960s concrete.


doonunda wrote:
gap74 wrote:Incidentally, are there any websites that explain what the general layout and function of the buildings in these places were? I'm particularly curious about the two buildings in Blantyre which are arranged into sort of numbered stalls.

Cheers,
Gary


Does this help mate

http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/AABatteryBlantyre
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Bombs over Glasgow WW2

Postby mairead » Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:49 pm

I well remember the night Kilmun St. was hit as we lived not far from it. I clearly remember my mother running for the air raid shelter with my baby sister in one arm, me hanging on to her other hand and my older brother holding her coat. I remember the terror, the sirens and the searchlights too. Young as I was, these memories never left me.
I was eventually evacuated to Taynult.
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Postby junkcatcher » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:58 pm

The Forth and Clyde canal my grannie told me was also a target for a different kind of bomber, long before WW2 the IRA had a go a blowing up the bridge over Maryhill Rd with the intent of causing Dam Buster style flooding damage.


Re Kilpatrick hills of course apart from the industrial and naval targets in the lower clyde area a major target was the Hiram Walker Whisky bonds which were a major economic taget, without them Lend Lease would have been impossible.
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Bombs over Glasgow WW2

Postby mairead » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:14 pm

Junkcatcher, You're Grannie was probably right enough but the canal was also a likely target during the war as it was well used by all sorts of barges in these days and it's just possible that the bomb which hit Kilmun St. was meant for the canal which was not far away from the street, a few hundred yards or less as the crow flies.
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Postby junkcatcher » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:52 pm

A hit on that bridge would have created a lot of chaos.
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Postby Apollo » Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:19 am

Yes, I know this programme has now aired (and I only caught the latter part), but worth catching at a later date to see what they were finally able to determine from the remains and evidence they uncovered, and were able to tie in with records and maps of the time:

Channel 4, 18:40
Time Team Special (History Documentary)
Buried By The Blitz.
During World War II, the Blitz destroyed countless homes, factories and civil defences. Dorchester Street in Shoreditch was one of thousands of streets in London that were bombed constantly, and was finally hit by a V2 long-range rocket bomb. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of VE day, archaeologists from the Museum of London enlisted the aid of dozens of volunteers to excavate the street, now lying under grassland in Shoreditch Park.
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Postby TC1 » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:05 pm

Margaret wrote:
The lair book mentioned a mortuary in Titwood Road Crossmyloof..... This is the first mention I have heard of this.


I used to live near there and in fact, I worked for a time in the Co-op Creamery, just down from Minard Road. I was told that the Creamery had been used as a mortuary during the war.
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German Bomb fragment

Postby peter » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:41 pm

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This is part of a German bomb I found on the Kilpatrick hills any idea of size. ie 200lb?
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Jerry bomb

Postby peter » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:42 pm

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Bomb

Postby peter » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:43 pm

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Note thickness of casing.
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Bomb fragment.

Postby peter » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:44 pm

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Postby Socceroo » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:52 pm

What size is it. i.e diameter?

If you can measure the approx diameter of the nose then we can ascertain how many lbs it was.

It looks like 250lb or even a 500lb bomb. More likely to be a 250lb which were pretty common and devastatingly effective.
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Postby peter » Sat Nov 04, 2006 1:04 pm

Not exactly round in shape but it weighs 48lbs.
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Postby Socceroo » Sat Nov 04, 2006 1:15 pm

Well if that bit weighs 48lb itself, then it is not off a 250lb Bomb, it must be off at least a 500lb or even bigger.

Nice find.
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