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Fire from the sky: Blitzkrieg hits London and the Provinces |
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After
the calm - the storm, as the Luftwaffe hit London night after
night. Some stores, like Strand, London, WC2 (No. 188; left)
got away comparatively lightly with superficial damage that could soon
be cleared.
This picture (which appeared extensively in the American media) was always captioned "an unknown Woolworth store in the blitz". Note the tapes across the plate glass window on the right to prevent injuries from falling glass, while the left hand window has been smashed by the fall of the parapet wall from the roof top onto the pavement below. |
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| A mile or so down the road, Elephant and Castle (No. 313; right) wasn't so lucky, raised to the ground by an incendiary bomb. Company records bear the inscription "EA" (an abbreviation for Enemy Action) against the store. At the end of the war city planners decided that the whole of the Elephant and Castle would be bulldozed and redeveloped, meaning that this store was not reinstated until the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre opened in the 1970s. |  |
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In the early months of the war, enemy raids came only during the hours of darkness, when most of the stores and neighbouring streets were quiet. Most of the damage resulted from the fires started by incendiary bombs rather than directly from the blast. | |||
| As
losses increased, particularly in the East End of London which housed
many docks and factories at the time, company bosses looked for ways to
reduce the losses and damage to property, as well as ways to re-open for
business as soon as possible. They asked for volunteers to work as
fire watchers, spending the night in the store so that there was someone
on hand if an incendiary bomb was dropped - both to try to put out the
fire and to allow the Fire Brigade and ARP access to the premises.
Fire watchers were given training in how to put fires out, and paid danger money. Many stores were saved from destruction by the bravery of the colleagues who agreed to stay behind. For company they had only the store cat. |
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Managers' sons recall how, at the end of a hard day's work in one store, their fathers would travel half way across town to do fire-watching duty in another store. Clifford Quartermaine, for example (left), managed the Sparkhill, Birmingham store during the day, before commuting to Bull Ring to spend the night watching the large Woolies in Spiceal Street. Reg Gallanders (right) used to take off his manager's suit when the store closed, and emerge as an Air Raid Policeman. |  |
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| As the weeks went by, in preparation for the planned invasion of England, the Luftwaffe launched more daring raids. Not only London but the South Coast towns, ports and major manufacturing industries were targeted around the country. It was also said that the Germans pinpointed their targets from a 1930s guide book - if you weren't in you were safe. Among others the Woolies stores in Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton (Above Bar), Southsea and Dover were destroyed, along with Whitefriargate, Hull (then of course only known as a northern coastal town), Norwich, Coventry and Sheffield. | ||||
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| Remarkably though, despite intense bombardment some stores survived unscathed. The flagship Liverpool store was undamaged - indeed so was the original Woolies building (then operating as a cinema) over opposite. Likewise the large superstore in Piccadilly, Manchester survived while much of the City lay in ruins. In Croydon, the largest store in North End (No. 12) was completely untouched, while the smaller store in Church Street was hit five times during the war. | ||||
| Many stores were "wounded" but (thanks to the intense efforts of many Woolies colleagues) soon re-opened, sometimes a little the worse for wear, but always with pride and dignity and a strong sense that Germany would never prevail. You can find out more about that bravery and bulldog spirit, by visiting the other exhibits in our 1940s Gallery, here in the Woolies Virtual Museum. | ||||
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World War II Gallery Home Page Xmas
1939: UK and USA a world apart Fire
from the sky - Blitz hits major cities |
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