Beckenham Heritage Group (Local Groups)
21 Broomfield Road
Beckenham, Kent
BR3 3QB
tel: 020 8650 7347
LOCATION MAP
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| by Cliff Watkins and Pat Manning, sponsored by Bromley Borough Local History Society, 2005. ISBN 0 9540202 2 7. A4 format, card covers, 98 pages, with numerous b&w photographs, maps etc., several appendices of detailed information, bibliography and index. Price £8 post free. Available from Jenna Publishing, 29 Birchwood Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3PY or tel. 020 8650 7347
"One cannot fail to be moved by this book which details the experiences of residents of Beckenham during the last war. Much is written about central London, less about the outer suburbs, but they too suffered during the blitz, as this book recounts.
It was in 1937 that Beckenham was established as a new borough; even then there was anxiety that war was on the horizon and at a public meeting attended by over 1000 residents, a civil defence force was established bringing in volunteers to support the fire, ambulance, police and rescue services as well as telephonists, nurses and dispatch riders.
After war was declared there was a period of relative quiet known as the Phoney War. The railway line to Victoria passed through Beckenham, and it was in June 1940 after the withdrawal of Allied Forces from Dunkirk that a train carrying returning soldiers was held up beside the Grammar School in Penge, The boys did not hesitate to hand over their sweets and chocolate to the injured soldiers or to practise the French they had learnt at school. Their gesture was much appreciated.
Beckenham, situated only a few miles north of Biggin Hill airfield and on the flight path to the London docks, (a route which Churchill described as 'Bomb Alley) began to suffer regular air raids, and nights spent in air raid shelters were common. It was not easy to read by candle light in the shelters and people relied on singing together to pass the time. The first deaths occurred in August 1940 and there were non-stop air-raids for 47 days from 7 September. On one night in 1941 (16-17 April) 40 people were killed and 133 injured. The series of anecdotes recorded by those who experienced the air raids and extracts from their diaries detail the effects on family life of the blackout which began in August 1939 as well as the evacuation of children to safer areas. The children who remained were able to watch the dogfights between aircraft over Biggin Hill.
There are also chapters detailing the bravery and losses of the Home Guard and Auxiliary Fire Services who were on duty night after night while following their daytime occupation as well. Their wives were well aware of the risks involved and waited with apprehension news for news of their husbands.
War time shortages necessitated what would now be called recycling. Since clothes were rationed, repeated mending was essential. Girls' skirts were made from their fathers' cast-off flannel trousers and a man's pinstriped suit could be turned into a woman's dress. The silk from parachutes was much in demand for nightdresses and underwear. Food scraps were collected to feed pigs, and allotments, some set up in the local parks, provided fruit and vegetables. Recipes were improvised to conceal the absence of meat, eggs or other scarce ingredients.
Sighs of relief followed the Normandy landings when air-raids ceased, but very soon the V1 pilotless planes or 'doodlebugs' began their deadly assault and in the summer of 1944 Beckenham suffered under renewed attacks. The book gives a personal account of one of the worst tragedies in the South East when the engine of a V1 'sounding like a badly tuned motor cycle' cut out over a packed cafe at lunchtime. The adjacent houses were demolished and 44 people killed. In all, 71 flying bombs fell on Beckenham and 20 on its borders; 132 were killed and 1085 injured. V2 rockets followed, but only five fell on Beckenham with nine deaths, and as these were not reported in the local press the authors had to trace the victims through obituary notices or the memories of their neighbours.
The end of the war came at last with parades, celebrations and street parties, together with the disbanding of most of the voluntary defence organisations. Almost overnight concert parties, dances and sports events were arranged and floodlighting replaced the blackout.
The text is supported not only by numerous photographs of the scenes and people involved but also by several appendices listing the places where bombs fell, the numbers and names of victims, both dead and injured, and the destruction caused. There is also a 'time line' which sets the events in the wider context of the war. These form a valuable and precise record and, when read together with the personal accounts of people directly involved, gives a very full picture of wartime life in the northernmost areas of Kent. The authors must be congratulated on the detailed research they have carried out and the lively manner in which the results are presented."
Review by Mary Tidnam of the Kent Archaeological & History Society
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