|
|
Air Raids
and
Air Raid Shelters
and
Bombs
in Edinburgh
|
|
Recollections |
|
1.
|
Brian V Fox
Wells, Somerset England |
Air Raids during World War II
- Evacuation and Return
- Anderson Shelter
- Bombs
|
|
2.
|
David Fiddimore
Calton, Edinburgh |
Mayfield Road
- Steel Shutters |
|
3.
|
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh |
Bombs Dropped
- 1940 to 1942 |
|
4.
|
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh |
Bombs |
|
5. |
Danny Callaghan
Falkirk, Stirlingshire,
Scotland
|
East Claremont Street |
|
6. |
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh
|
East Claremont Street
- List of Bombings |
|
7. |
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh
|
World War
I
- Zeppelin
Bombs |
|
8. |
Ian Thomson
Lake Maquarie, New South Wales, Australia
|
Carrick Knowe
- Kids' Playground |
|
9. |
Don Falconer
New Plymouth, New Zealand
|
Dalry
-
Bomb at Springwell Place |
|
10. |
Avril Finlayson
Smith
(nee Young)
Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
|
Bombing
Siren Suit
Treacle Pies |
|
11. |
Jim Suddon
Morningside, Edinburgh
|
East Claremont Street
TA Hall
Tynecastle Bombings
The Forth Bridge |
|
12. |
Yvonne Gordon
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh
with reply from
Yvonne Gordon
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh
|
Anderson Shelters |
|
13. |
Jim Smart
Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
East
Lothian - The First Air Raid |
|
14. |
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
Leith
Mini-Blitz, 1941 |
|
15. |
Alistair Adams
Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, Scotland |
Brown
Brothers Engineering Works |
|
16. |
Alex Dow
Fife, Scotland
|
East Claremont Street
|
|
17. |
Alex Dow
Fife, Scotland
|
Steam Catapults
|
|
18. |
Bill Hogg
|
Bomb at Springwell Place
|
|
19. |
Allan Dodds
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
|
Bomb at The Meadows |
|
20. |
Margaret Cooper
Colindale, North London, England
|
Air Raid Shelter
Entertainment
Blackout |
|
21. |
Kathleen van
Overzee
|
Bomb at Springwell Place
|
|
22. |
Alex Vesco
Forres, Moray, Scotland
|
Bomb at Dalry
|
|
Recollections
1.
Brian V Fox
Wells, Somerset England |
|
Thank you to Brian Fox, who attended Trinity Academy, Edinburgh from
1940 to 1946, for recalling life in Edinburgh during World War II
Brian wrote: |
|
Air Raids
during World War II
Evacuation and Return
"My
sister and I were evacuated from Edinburgh in 1939 to a schoolhouse in the
Lyne
valley near Peebles. By
Christmas, the same year, we had both returned to Edinburgh.
Anderson Shelter
"As the war
progressed, the Germans bombed Clydeside in 1941. The
raids took place over three nights and we had to spend hours and
hours in our Anderson shelter. Our next door neighbour and son
shared it with us. She was so nervous that she made the bench
rattle.
We in our
foolishness thought it was all great fun, especially as we could
skip
school
the next day. We could hear the bombers droning overhead and
the loud noise from our ack ack guns.
Suddenly
there was loud swishing sound getting louder and louder. We
all crouched down waiting for the explosion which never came.
It turned out to be an unexploded shell which landed within
inches of our neighbour's husband, showering him with earth.
He was on ARP duties at the time. Needless to say he nearly
died from fright.
Bombs
"On another
occasion we were both wakened by our uncle in the middle of a raid
with no warning. The house was surrounded by incendiary
bombs, which by good
fortune didn't hit any houses.
The
next
morning we saw burnt holes in the road and pavements.
Edinburgh was very fortunate insofar as it largely escaped the
bombing endured by so many other cities.
|
|
Brian V Fox, Wells, Somerset, England: January
10, 2008 |
|
Recollections
2.
David Fiddimore
Calton, Edinburgh |
|
Mayfield Road
Steel Shutters
Thank you to David Fiddimore for providing
these photos of a steel plate used, probably during World War I, to
create an air raid shelter on the ground floor of a house on Mayfield
Road, Edinburgh.
Please click on the images below to enlarge them and
to read David's comments about them:
|
Closed
©
|
Open
© |
Acknowledgement - David
Fiddimore, Calton, Edinburgh: November 20, 2009 |
|
Recollections
3.
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh |
|
Thank you to Kim for providing this list of bombs
that fell on Edinburgh: |
|
BOMBS DROPPED ON EDINBURGH
(18 people killed; more than 200
injured) |
|
1940 |
|
Jun 26 |
12.55 am |
Open
ground near Craigmillar Castle Road
- five 250 lb bombs, 100
incendiaries |
|
Jul 18 |
8.07 pm |
Leith: Victoria Dock,
junction of Commercial Street and Portland
Place railway line, George Street, LMS railway coal depot,
Newhaven branch line, Nicol Place
- two 250 lb
and six 50 lb bombs
|
|
Jul 22 |
5.59 am |
Leith: Albert
Dock
-
one 1,000 lb
bomb,
Railway lines,
Seafield Road
- three 50 lb bombs, 48 incendiaries
(8 killed; 38
injured) |
|
Jul 22-23 |
? |
Granton area
- 100 incendiaries |
|
Aug 4 |
1.30 am |
Portobello: Abercorn Park and
9 Abercorn
Terrace,
Christian Path, 84
Argyle Place and Argyle
Crescent
- five bombs unexploded |
|
Sep 27 |
7.58 pm |
Grounds
of Palace of Holyrood House and Kinnear Road
- (no details made public) |
|
Sep 27 |
5.15 am |
Gorgie: Duff Street
- one 500 lb bomb
See Recollections 9
below. |
|
Sep 29 |
7.45 pm |
21-23 Crewe Place
- one 250 lb bomb
See
Pilton Bomb
1940 |
|
Oct 7 |
7.45 pm |
Warrender Park area:
16 Roseneath Place
and roadway,
12-14 Marchmont Crescent,
21 Marchmont Road,
20 Meadow
Place
- five 50 lb bombs
(11 injured)
|
|
Nov 5 |
8.10 pm |
Corstorphine area: Pinkhill House, Zoo
aviary,
Corstorphine Hill quarry, grounds of Clermiston House
- six 250 lb bombs |
|
1941 |
|
Mar 14-15 |
midnight |
Abbeyhill area
- 70 incendiaries |
|
Apr 7 |
11.00
pm |
Leith: David Kilpatrick School and
railway embankment opp. Largo Place
***
- two landmines
dropped by parachute
|
***
Kim Traynor adds: "This was David Kilpatrick
Infant School. Part of Leith Library was also damaged by the same
bomb."
|
Corstorphine area: Dalmeny railway line
and Braehead House,
Cramond Brig
-
34 incendiaries
(3 killed; 131
injured) |
|
May 6 |
12.36
am |
Niddrie Rd, Milton Crescent, Jewel
Cottages,
-
one 100 lb, three
50 lb bombs, 34 incendiaries
(4 killed; 2 injured) |
|
1942 |
|
Jul 6 |
11.20 pm |
Craigentinny
area: Craigentinny House,
35 Loaning Road, junction of Loaning
Crescent with Loaning Road,
Craigentinny golf course
-
four 500 lb bombs |
|
Reproduced with acknowledgement to Lothian Region Education Dept who I believe produced
this list which was used in
their schools in the 1980s
*.
*
This table has been updated to include house numbers and further
information, supplied by Kim Traynor: January 8, 2009. |
|
Recollections
4.
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh |
|
Kim added:
Bombs
"When
I was a teenager, one of the annoying aspects of my week was to have to
carry a bag of churls home from the shops which weighed 28lbs.
So, when I see the size of some of these
bombs, I’m quite amazed. Why does a lone German bomber drop 500lb bombs on
Craigentinny in 1942? Each of those would bring down a fair-sized hotel.
I can’t see any link to dates for raids
on Belfast, Glasgow or Rosyth that might suggest a bomb jettisoned by a
returning raider. As there was no other activity that night, the plane
must have been going it alone, which seems unusual.
I wonder if the Craigentinny rail depot was the intended
target, hence one of the bombs dropping on the golf course?
Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh:
December 6, 2009 |
|
I asked
Kim what the 'churls' were, that he referred to above. He replied:
"Churls were small, washed lumps of coal sold in
factory-sealed, thick-brown paper bags weighing 28lbs.
I
collected one bag weekly from a local general store in West Granton Road
when I lived in Royston Mains Avenue in the mid-1960s. The bag was big for
a small teenager, so I had to carry it over my shoulder."
Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh:
December 11, 2009 |
|
Recollections
5.
Danny Callaghan
Falkirk, Stirlingshire,
Scotland |
|
Perhaps not all the bombs that dropped during World
War II are included in the table in 3 above.
Recently, Danny Callaghan, now living in Falkirk,
told me about photos that he had taken of buildings that had been built on
Edinburgh bomb sites ***
Danny said he believed that the target of these
bombs was Brown's Engineering Works at Bonnington, and that the planes had
lined up on the steeple at the end of East Claremont Street, then followed
East Claremont Street in the direction of the engineering works. |
|
Danny wrote:
East Claremont Street
"I
have taken some pictures of the building now on three bomb sites in East
Claremont Street.
***
1. The
east site, next to the former printing works,
is flats build in 1960s called Claremont Court.
2.
The middle site is the TA garage
3.
The west site is modern flats built in keeping with the new town houses,
but because they have lower ceilings they have an extra floor.
Otherwise, they follow the building line."
Danny Callaghan, Falkirk, Stirlingshire,
Scotland: November 18, 2009 |
|
*** I'm
not sure whether the bomb sites in East Claremont Street that Danny refers
to were bomb sites from World War I or World War II.
UPDATE
In fact, the sites mentioned in East
Claremont Street appear not to have been bomb sites. See 'Recollections
11' below |
|
Recollections
6.
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh |
|
Kim replied to Danny's comments in 5 above.
Kim wrote:
East Claremont Street
"I
recognise the locations that Danny refers to.
The first is very familiar, as it stood right next to my secondary school
and provided a secret route back into school for truants who’d been down
at the snooker tables next to the old Ritz cinema.
I wasn’t aware that these buildings had
come about as a result of bombing."
Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh:
December 6, 2009 |
|
Kim added: |
|
East Claremont Street
"I understood the list in 3
above to be comprehensive. There were
no incidents after the Craigmillar bombs. Yet,
there is no mention of East Claremont Street."
Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh:
December 6, 2009
In
fact, these sites do not appear to have been bomb sites. Please also
see 'Recollections
11'
below.
- Peter Stubbs
|
|
List of Bombings
"A new book is due to appear soon,
entitled 'The Luftwaffe Over Scotland'.
It purports to be the first comprehensive history of the subject of
air raids on Scotland."
Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh:
December 6, 2009
Please
also see
|
|
*
Agreed.
In fact, the sites mentioned in East Claremont Street
appear not to have been bomb sites. See 'Recollections
11' below |
|
**
I
have now received an emailfrom See 'Recollections
11' below |
|
Reply
to Recollections
6.
Les Taylor
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire,
Scotland |
|
Thank you to Les Taylor who replies
List of Bombings
"I
notice Kim Traynor
(Recollections 6 above)
has
mentioned my new book 'Luftwaffe over Scotland'
I
would like to explain a wee bit about the book, particularly with regard
to lists of bombed places, because I would hate to give the impression
that this is some kind of exhaustive 'bible'
of bombed locations in Scotland, because that's not what I set out to do.
As
you can imagine, a detailed listing of every bomb dropped would be so long
that no publisher would touch it, as would also be a list of specific
streets, houses, locations that were bombed. What I have done is compiled
an index, in the appendices,
of every location in Scotland known to have been bombed, with the date. I
also provide the best assessment of casualty figures, together with what I
hope is the first comprehensive listing of every
German aircraft brought down over or around Scotland.
What my book sets out to do is tackle the wider political, strategic and
tactical aspects of the long bombing campaign against Scotland, explaining:
-
why
the bombing took place (in terms of the famous 'Douhet
Theory'), who precisely did the bombing (in
terms of German units and their base locations) and
- the strategy and tactics behind the
operations, ranging from mass attacks on Clydebank and Greenock, to the
more common 'hit and run'
raids that of course included Edinburgh on several occasions.
I
also make the point in the introduction that the book is specifically not
a collections of witness memories, since this is a subject already well
covered, but more of a detailed technical reference work dealing not only
with what happened, but also why."
Les Taylor, Fraserburgh,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
|
Message to Les Taylor
If you would like to send a
reply to Les Taylor, please email me, then I'll pass on your message to
him. Thank you.
Peter Stubbs, April 27, 2010 |
|
Recollections
7.
Kim Traynor
Tollcross, Edinburgh |
|
Kim wrote again, this time telling me about a web
site with a map showing 27 locations of bombs dropped on Edinburgh during
World War I on the night of April 2-3, 1916. |
|
Kim wrote:
World War I
Zeppelin Bombs
"The
Secret Scotland
web site includes a map of the Zeppelin bombings of 1916.
One
can see, clearly, that
the airship followed the lights of Dumbiedykes.
Arthur’s Seat, even in the moonlight, must have appeared to the Zeppelin
crew as a featureless, black pool below them.
It must have been scary, ensuring they
maintained a safe height.
It
looks like they followed the silvery streak of the Water of Leith,
reflecting the moonlight, to find the centre of the town."
Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh:
December 6, 2009 |
|
Recollections
8.
Ian Thomson
Lake Maquarie, New South Wales, Australia
|
|
Thank you to Ian Thomson who wrote |
|
Bombs and the Zoo
"I
remember clearly, from our
Anderson shelter, the bombs hitting the
Corstorphine Zoo, with a number of animals
killed. The older kids were rewarded for
the capture of escaped animals.
I
seemed
to think, maybe it was the
Forth Bridge they were after."
|
|
Carrick Knowe - Kids'
Playground
"Carrick Knowe Golf Course was used by the
Home Guard during the war.
It was also playground for us, as kids,
then."
|
|
Ian Thomson, Lake Maquarie, New South Wales, Australia:
December 9, 2009 |
|
Recollections
9.
Don Falconer
New Plymouth, New Zealand |
|
Don Falconer wrote: |
|
Bomb at Dalry
"At
the age of five, I lived at 28 Springwell Place
with my mum, two sisters and brother.
I’m
not sure of the date but
I think it was on
16th September 1940, our building and the
brewery next to it was hit in
a bombing.
**
My
mum seemingly was acclaimed a heroine. We
lived on the top flat. She gathered us
kids together and found time to knock on the
door of neighbours who were hard of hearing. They
hadn’t heard a thing.
We went out into the street and stood
watching as the firemen tried to control the fire, then
went to our granny’s house. She lived in
the same street. We then moved on to the
Northern General Hospital, until we were eventually re-housed at 6 Ferry
Road Place, West Pilton. My mum had her photo in the Evening news or the
Scotsman."
|
**
Looking at the list in
3 above, I believe that the date of the bombing may
have been September 27, 1940.
- Peter Stubbs:
March 7, 2010
|
Any more Memories of
the Bombing?
"I would like
to know if anyone else out there has any memories of this bombing ? as I
have tried in vain.
I am now living in New Plymouth, New
Zealand, where I have lived with my family for 35 years.
Friends are most welcome to get in touch
with me."
Don
Falconer, New Plymouth, New Zealand: March 7, 2010 |
|
Reply to Don
If you'd
like to send a message to Don,
please email me, then I'll pass your message on to him.
Thank you.
-
Peter Stubbs: March 7, 2010 |
|
Recollections
10.
Avril Finlayson Smith
(nee Young)
Bendigo, Victoria,
Australia |
|
Thank
you to Avril Finlayson Smith (nee Young) for leaving this message in
the EdinPhoto guestbook. |
|
Avril wrote:
Bombing
"I read in some other reflections about
the bombing in
Crewe Place where I lived. My
Dad was an ARP Warden so was quite involved in all of this."
Siren Suit
"I have
many memories of having to go down to the Anderson Shelter.
All too often, the memory that
comes to mind most is being pulled into my siren
suit.
It was Okay
at the start of the war, but
it became a bit of a struggle as time went
on. I, of
course, grew but not the
siren suit, which had to last me.
My Dad made
the siren suit, as he was a tailor
- very handy !!
Treacle Pies
"I remember
all those treacle pieces my Dad used to pass into the shelter"
Avril Finlayson Smith (nee Young),
Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
Message posted in EdinPhoto guestbook, March 24, 2010
|
|
Reply to Avril
If you'd like to send a reply to Avril,
please
EITHER: add a reply her under the message that she left
in the guestbook on March 24, 2010
OR:
email me, then I'll pass on your message to Avril.
Thank you. Peter
Stubbs: March 27, 2010 |
|
Recollections
11.
Jim Suddon
Morningside, Edinburgh |
|
Thank
you to Jim Suddon who replied to the comments in Recollections 5 and
6 above. |
|
Jim wrote:
East Claremont Street
"Danny Callaghan
wrote about three bomb sites in East Claremont Street.
In fact, this was not the case. The sites
that he mentions were:
-
the allotments at Melgund Terrace, I had one at that site.
Flats replaced them in the late-1950s.
- the
allotment site at West Annandale Street where the T.A. built a
transport garage in the very early-1950s
-
the ruins of MacDougalls
printing and publishing building, just up
from Broughton Primary School. This was burnt down.
I think it was before the war. It stood as a ruin for years
and lots of people thought it was the result of bombing but that
was not the case."
TA Hall
"The T.A. Hall
in East Claremont Street was home to the 'Dandy Ninth' Division of
the Royal Scots. They were reputed to be the smartest troops in the
British Army. I recall the parades
with the Pipe Band and soldiers after the war.
The roof of the building had a machine
gun emplacement used during air raids against low flying aircraft."
Tynecastle Bombing
"My father used to tell me of a
bombing raid, one night,
which caused a fire at Tynecastle. It was a whisky bond at Duff
Street that was hit and the blaze was so bright it was possible to
read a newspaper at Bellevue.
I always thought he was exaggerating
but I read a book written by a former German pilot who was on that
raid. Their target was the Forth Bridge and Rosyth but the bombs
were dropped and some obviously fell short.
They had no idea what they
had hit, but they had caused an immense
fire. The glow of the fire could still be seen as they returned to
their base, as they crossed over the coast
of Denmark.
I suppose the distance between target
and the bombed site at Tynecastle was not far in aircraft distance,
and the site at the Bridge was also well defended."
The Forth Bridge
"I used to
visit Queensferry with my mother during the war and the whole area
was surrounded by barrage balloons. They
seemed, to me,
to be wonderful as they were silver like in the sunshine.
I always hoped that I could obtain one. They prevented low level
bombing raids as there was no way planes could get to the bridge or
naval bases flying low level with as many balloons lifting the
cables which were of course the real protection.
The balloons
were raised when air-raids were expected.
Hence the 'Balloons up' saying."
|
|
Jim Suddon, Morningside, Edinburgh:
March 25, 2010
|
|
Recollections
12.
Yvonne Gordon
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
|
Yvonne Gordon wrote: |
|
Anderson Shelters
"Do you know of
any Anderson shelters that survive in Edinburgh gardens?
And is it possible to
visit them?"
Yvonne Gordon, Burdiehouse,
Edinburgh: June 10, 2010 |
|
Reply to Yvonne Gordon?
I don't know of any surviving Anderson shelters in
Edinburgh gardens, but there may well be some. If you know of any,
can you please email me, then I'll pass on your message to Yvonne.
Thank you.
Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: June 6,
2010 |
|
Reply
1.
to
Recollections
12.
Yvonne Gordon
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
|
Yvonne Gordon added: |
|
Anderson Shelters
"My Mum seems to think there is
an
Anderson shelter somewhere in the Inch."
Yvonne Gordon, Burdiehouse,
Edinburgh: June 10, 2010 |
|
Recollections
13.
Jim Smart
Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
|
Thank you to Jim Smart who wrote: |
|
East Lothian
The First Air Raid
"I remember the first Air
Raid of World War II.
It was beautiful late Summer's day.
The first we heard was the sound of rapid fire, followed by a
German aircraft, further followed by a Spitfire, (or may be a
Hurricane) Lysander spotter plane, and finally a bright Yellow
Sunderland rescue plane.
We
were all rushing about picking up pieces of shrapnel (which were
still warm) and completely oblivious to the danger of it all.
The German aircraft was shot down and
crashed in the area of Humby.*
The German crew were given what seemed
like a 'full military funeral' and the Swastika flag was draped
over the coffin.
The
coffin(s) were
then buried in Joppa cemetery.
They were repatriated to
the German families after the War"
Jim Smart, Bournemouth, Dorset,
England: September 5, 2010 |
|
*
Humby is in East Lothian, to the east of Edinburgh, about 10 miles
SE of Musselburgh.
|
|
Recollections
14.
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
|
Thank you to Frank Ferri who wrote: |
|
"There is a commemorative
plaque situated in foyer of Andrew Morton Hall, behind Leith
Library. It records the Leith min- blitz by German aircraft in
1941."
|
|
Leith Mini-Blitz -
1941
Frank sent me a photograph
of the plaque. It reads:
|
THIS HALL WAS
DAMAGED BY ENEMY ACTION
ON
THE NIGHT OF
7TH APRIL 1941
AND WAS RE-OPENED BY
THE RT. HON.
JOHN GREIG
DUNBAR
LORD PROVOST
ON
23RD JUNE 1961
???
???
Town Clerk
Architects
|
Frank added: |
|
Land Mines
"The
Leith mini-blitz badly damaged:
-
what
was then known as Leith Town
Hall
-
Largo Pl
-
Ballantyne Road.
I was only six years of
age, but I remember the night very clearly. Two
land mines fell on the railway embankment running parallel to Largo
Place. At least two people were killed in Large Place."
Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh:
November 24, 201 |
|
Recollections
15.
Alistair Adams
Giffnock, East Renfrewshire,
Scotland |
|
Thank you to Alistair Adams who wrote: |
|
Brown Brothers Engineering Works
"Danny
Callaghan
(5 above) suggests that Brown Brothers
Engineering Works, Bonnington, was a target.
My father worked there
during the war. He was engaged in making steam catapults for
aircraft carriers**,
so a priority target, if the Germans had knowledge of it.
Alistair Adams, Giffnock, East
Renfrewshire, Scotland: December 26, 2011
|
|
**
See also
Recollectons 17 below
|
|
Recollections
16.
Alex Dow
Fife, Scotland |
|
Thank
you to Alex Dow who wrote: |
|
East Claremont Street
No Bombs
"Jim Suddon
(Recollections 11 above) is basically correct.
None of those three locations were bombed.
The Melgund Street and the West
Annandale Street Allotments were never
built on in a serious way.
-
Melgund Street allotments may have had
some minor residual/demolished buildings from when it was part of
the Bellevue House Estate.
-
West Annandale Allotments
may also have had some
residual/demolished buildings from
the same estate and, more specifically,
from the original Edinburgh Zoo.
Allotments
The
lack of buildings on these two allotment areas can be confirmed by
working back through the different OS Series maps on the
old-maps web site.
An aerial photo from
the 1930s in the Edinburgh Central LIbrary collection***
shows very extensive allotments throughout the general area.
***
I found this photo to be interesting but cannot
add it to the EdinPhoto we site for copyright reasons.
However, if Edinburgh Central Library has added the photo to their
Capital Collections web site, I may be able to add a link to the
page on that site. I'll investigate further.
Fire
The 'ruined
buildings' were,
as Jim states, from the McDougall's Educational Establishment and
Printing Works. These were destroyed by a fire which was believed to
have started in a lift, on a Saturday afternoon.
I remember standing in the lower end of
Bellevue Road and watching the Fire
Brigade, including AFS, fighting the fires.
There was a fair crowd. That would
be very unlikely if there had been a threat of bombing.
However, the fire
was about 1940. It was definitely
not before WW2. I know that because
I did not start to walk until about June 1939,
and I can remember that we walked down
Bellevue Road to see the fire."
Alex Dow investigated further then wrote:
"The booklet 'Aye
Ready - A History of Edinburgh Fire Brigade' (page 36) says that
the fire started on Saturday June 14, 1941 and that the cause was
accidental."
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Alex Dow, Fife, Scotland: May 20+21
2011 (4 emails) |
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Recollections
17.
Alex Dow
Fife, Scotland |
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Thank you to Alex Dow for responding to Alastair Adams' comments in
Recollections 15 above.
Alex's comments began: |
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Steam Catapults
"If you take a look at this
Navy
History site, you'll see that Steam Catapults were
basically a post-WW2 innovation, involving Brown Brothers etc."
Alex Dow, Fife, Scotland: May 23,
2011 |
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Full Reply
Please click the link below to read
Alex's full reply to Recollections 15:
Steam and Other Catapults |
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Recollections
18.
Bill Hogg
Fife, Scotland |
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Bill Hogg wrote: |
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Bomb at Springwell Place
"I have only just seen the article
written by Don Falconer (Recollections 9 above).
I was three years of age when
the bomb fell and was living at 19 Springwell
Place, first floor.
I recall my dad coming into the bedroom
that I shared with my sister Margaret (aged 7),
pulling back the curtains and exclaiming:
'My God! The
street's on fire'.
I remember the firemen coming and hosing
down our tenement building to prevent the fire from spreading. We
were subsequently evacuated to live with a
family in Bonnyrigg, which I loved. We
subsequently got back home about a week or so later.
I would be happy go communicate with
anyone who would like to share memories.
Bill Hogg: November 13, 2011 |
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Discussions with Bill
If you'd
like to communicate with Bill Hogg,
please email me, then I'll pass on his email address to you.
Thank you.
Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: November 13, 2011 |
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Recollections
19.
Allan Dodds
Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire, England |
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Allan Dodds
wrote |
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Bomb at The Meadows
"After reading Kim Traynor's account of
bombs dropped on Edinburgh, I remember my mother
telling me the story of how during the War she was in a cinema,
somewhere around Marchmont, watching a movie
where bombs were being dropped in the film. She remarked upon how
realistic the experience had been.
According to my father, that evening a British
bomber had had a bomb stuck in its undercarriage and had managed to
release it safely over the Meadows before landing. It
was the sound and vibration created close to the cinema that had added
realism to my mother's experience.
Perhaps Kim can confirm this story.
My parents often related it after the War as it made quite an
impact on them - not literally, thank
goodness!"
Allan Dodds, Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire, England: November 24, 2011 |
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Recollections
20.
Margaret Cooper
Colindale, North
London, England |
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Margaret
Cooper wrote |
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Air Raid Shelter
"Our air raid shelter in the back green
of 7 Drumdryan Street, Tollcross, was made of
concrete. It had a sloping exterior which
made a good slide in winter when it snowed.
As a kid i used to like it
when the sirens went and my Mother would take me and my sister down
to the shelter. There was a door
then about ten steps down into the interior
where there were
wooden benches and wooden bunks."
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Entertainment
"An old man named
Willie Greig would bring his accordion and we'd
have sing-a-longs. Mother would sneak
upstairs and make cocoa. I hated
cocoa in those days it was like the staff of
life, and treacle sannies (ugh)."
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Blackout
"My mother
she also used to get into trouble a lot
as the A,R,P. man would always spot a light from the window.
She was never any good at putting up blackout paper."
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Margaret Cooper, Colindale, North
London, England:
Message posted in EdinPhoto guestbook, January 16, 2012 |
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Recollections
21.
Kathleen van Overzee
Amsterdam, Netherlands
|
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Thank you
to Kathleen van Overzee for replying to Don Falconer's recollections in 9
above.
Kathleen
wrote: |
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Bomb at Springwell Place
"My mum remembers that bombing
in Springwell Place, Dalry.
She lived in Fowler Terrace and they
were wakened up in the middle of the night by neighbours who had gathered
outside.
She says that they went down to the embankment
to get a better look. But I thought it hit
a distillery and not a brewery.
My mum's a bit old now and a lot of tall
stories have circulated:
- drunk rats
-
people with buckets running to collect
the whisky!
We believed that the original target was the
railway line - again, I've no idea if that's
true."
Kathleen van Overzee, Amsterdam,
Netherlands: January 26,
2012
|
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Recollections
22.
Alex Vesco
Forres, Moray, Scotland |
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Thank you
to Alex Vesco for responding to the comment about the bomb in the Dalry
district of Edinburgh.
Alex wrote:
|
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Bomb at Dalry
"The bomb hit a distillery warehouse in
Duff Street. It was a three storey stone
building. It stored casks that had been
filled at the Caledonian Distillery at Haymarket. I believe the distillery
brick chimney may still be standing.
**
The warehouse wall on Downfield Place was
still intact after the explosion as well as the lift shaft in the middle
of the building. (This
fell down of its own accord three days later.)
The wall on Springwell was blown into the
street and the blazing casks rose in a slope from back to front.
The opposite tenements on Duff Street were on
fire. I gather that no-one
was hurt. I was a child living in
Northcote Street then, and was hurried away from
the scene which I still remember vividly.
I was told, later,
that the street gutters were running with blazing spirits. When the site
was eventually cleared, it still smelled of whisky some years later when
the sun shone and the soil warmed up.
There were in fact a number or railway lines
and shunting yards close by and it might well have been that they were the
target. How the pilot could have seen them in the blackout is a mystery"
Alex Vesco, Forres, Moray, Scotland:
February 14 + 22, 2012 |
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**
Yes it is, and it is still
standing, now surrounded by new housing.
Peter Stubbs. March 10,
2012
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