Did Hitler bomb your house?

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

This is one of Brighton's biggest urban legends.

There is no way Hitler would have holed up so near to the coast and so far from London had his planned invasion been so successful.

Him and his forces would have been a sitting duck for an Allied (Yank) counter attack by sea.

It is not entirely untrue. In fact the town of Bridgnorth in Shrophire was the chosen spot for Nazi HQ in England but Hitler was an admirer of the Pavillion and had it earmarked as a showpiece once operation Sealion had successfully taken place.

I read recently that there was an idea to use the foreign office building in London as an alternate government seat, post occupation, because it is easily secured against guerilla attack.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

It is not entirely untrue. In fact the town of Bridgnorth in Shrophire was the chosen spot for Nazi HQ in England but Hitler was an admirer of the Pavillion and had it earmarked as a showpiece once operation Sealion had successfully taken place.

I read recently that there was an idea to use the foreign office building in London as an alternate government seat, post occupation, because it is easily secured against guerilla attack.

Most of Brighton's bombs excluding the munitions factory's (including Greens Cake Factory top of Olive Road) and Shoreham Harbour were just 'left overs' from attacks on London on the way back to Europe.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Most of Brighton's bombs excluding the munitions factory's (including Greens Cake Factory top of Olive Road) and Shoreham Harbour were just 'left overs' from attacks on London on the way back to Europe.

The station was of interest too, as were all transport hubs.

Brighton never came under sustained attack although there are well documented opportunist attacks, machine gunning and small scale raids on record.

The Blackout was another reason why so many bombs fell outside of populated areas. I don't think that the Luftwaffe pilots were all that alturistic.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

The station was of interest too, as were all transport hubs.

Brighton never came under sustained attack although there are well documented opportunist attacks, machine gunning and small scale raids on record.

The Blackout was another reason why so many bombs fell outside of populated areas. I don't think that the Luftwaffe pilots were all that alturistic.

My Mum insists as a very small child her and my Grandad were machine gunned by the railway bridge in Sackville Road Just opposite what s now Conway Court. The air raid warning going off just as the plane went over.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

My Mum insists as a very small child her and my Grandad were machine gunned by the railway bridge in Sackville Road Just opposite what s now Conway Court. The air raid warning going off just as the plane went over.

She's right. There was a bloke who used to drink in the Park View who spoke of getting shot at on fiveways.

During the war I hasten to add, not in one of the sniff fuelled sessions at the Stanmer park.

 

[Lurker]

My mother lived in South London during the war years.
A doodlebug landed in the passageway between her house and next door's house.
Completely destroyed both houses.
My mum was in.
They heard the doodlebug cut out, so everybody ran to the shelter at the bottom of the garden.
My mum was the last one through the door just as the bomb landed.
She was hit by the blast, and spent 3 months in hospital recovering.
I wasn't born until many years after the war ended ... if Adolf had aimed his bomb a few yards further up the garden, I wouldn't be here to relate this incident, and BHA would have a few less supporters!

 

[Willow]

Great map. It shows a bomb landed where my old school, Saltdean Middle now stands. Never knew that.

 

[beorhthelm]

It is not entirely untrue. In fact the town of Bridgnorth in Shrophire was the chosen spot for Nazi HQ in England

why was that, bit random and out in the middle of nowhere. or maybe the idea?

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

why was that, bit random and out in the middle of nowhere. or maybe the idea?

Its all here if you're interested.

Hitler wanted sleepy Bridgnorth to be Nazi HQ after the invasion of Britain - Telegraph

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

My family comes from Portsmouth and during the war Portsmouth got it big time from the Luftwaffe, and what the Luftwaffe didn't get, Portsmouth City Council did a good job in f***ing up after the war!
During an air raid with the sirens going off all around her, my Nan and a friend of hers were outside in the street, I think walking home. They were shouted at to get into an air raid shelter by the Air Raid Warden, being young women they didn't really fancy going into the shelter and didn't go in.
The next day they found out that this particular shelter had been hit by a bomb, if they'd gone in there they would have been dead.
I wouldn't have been born, come to Brighton and supported the Albion!

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

'Interestingly', the street I grew up on, Surrenden Road, is referred to as Peacock Lane on that map

 

[thisistips]

Seeing as how its the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Blitz...

How close was the Luftwaffe to getting your little piece of Brighton?

From this it looks as if they were spectacularly bad at hitting any buildings. Most of the strikes are parks or farmland, or even in the sea!

 

[Return of the Rev]

From this it looks as if they were spectacularly bad at hitting any buildings. Most of the strikes are parks or farmland, or even in the sea!

The house opposite was hit but not on the map
#

LOOKS LIKE THE NAZI SCUM WERE AFTER ASDA STORES

 

[Vegas Seagull]

East Brighton Golf Course would be my idea of the best place to still see the evidence, some monster holes still between holes 3 & 4 and 15/16 ? on the way in

 

[FloatLeft]

Seeing as how its the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Blitz...

How close was the Luftwaffe to getting your little piece of Brighton?

Is there a high res version of this map that I can download and print for my son as his primary school project is on the Second World War.

 

[FloatLeft]

My aunty lived in Bennett Rd Kemp Town and as you can see on the map, it got hammered. The Hun were trying to get the gas works near the Marina.

I remember her telling me about a house in Bennett Rd that took a direct hit and the elderly lady occupant and her bed ( that she was still in ) was blown out of the house and landed half way up the street.
Also some years ago in the argus there was a story about some builders that found a mumified hand in a loft in that area and its thought that it was from some poor bugger that died in that raid.

If you ever venture down White St just up from Amex, you can clearly see at the bottom left a couple of houses that are different to the others. They were taken out by Gerry also.

Hi LG, As I mentioned in my previous post, my son is doing a school homework project on WW2 and I've read this post out to him and he'd love to incorporate this into his homework. Is that OK with you?

 

[FloatLeft]

Is there a high res version of this map that I can download and print for my son as his primary school project is on the Second World War.

I was looking on my iPhone so didn't realise there was a high res version. When I looked on my PC I found it in fantastic high res.

 

[Seagull on the wing]

The Franklin Arms has always had that new rebuild look to me. The old folk around me always talk of the bombing around us and I believe quite a few died in that raid along lewes road. Was quite a run of bombs across Hollingbury towards the Barracks on Lewes Road.

The Franklin Arms bomb run I think was primarily aimed at Preston Barracks...the trail of bombs came across the allotments,(Hollingbury was not built then)the second to last bomb landed in Dudley road just down the road from us..in the middle of the street, houses only sustained shrapnel damage...the last fell in Roedale Road with the same effect...apart from the Franklin Arms there was not a lot of damage.
The explosion blew our bakelite radio across the room,just missing my mother,and all it did to the radio was crack the case...no valves were broken and it still worked...I was tucked up in my bed covered in metal sheeting. The next day the Mayor came to visit the bomb crater...and he fell down it...I asked my Mum...where's that man gone Mum.
To me as a young boy it was exciting to see the dogfights and planes coming down...now of course I know men were dying.
Hope we never have to go through that again.

 

[Seagull on the wing]

Re my post on Dudley Rd...I lived at 42...we moved there from 37 Gordon Rd when the lady and baby who lived in 42 were killed in a raid in Caledonian Rd...my grandfather lived at 58,Dudley and my cousin at 25 Dudley...I have recently been back to speak to the resident of 42 Dudley,she was delighted to hear of the history of the house.

 

[EDS]

The Franklin Arms bomb run I think was primarily aimed at Preston Barracks...the trail of bombs came across the allotments,(Hollingbury was not built then)the second to last bomb landed in Dudley road just down the road from us..in the middle of the street, houses only sustained shrapnel damage...the last fell in Roedale Road with the same effect...apart from the Franklin Arms there was not a lot of damage.
The explosion blew our bakelite radio across the room,just missing my mother,and all it did to the radio was crack the case...no valves were broken and it still worked...I was tucked up in my bed covered in metal sheeting. The next day the Mayor came to visit the bomb crater...and he fell down it...I asked my Mum...where's that man gone Mum.
To me as a young boy it was exciting to see the dogfights and planes coming down...now of course I know men were dying.
Hope we never have to go through that again.

Fascinating, no matter how much you read I could never imagine what it was really like. I bet you could tell a few tales on how England has changed