Docklands at War - the blitz renewed
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Although the London Blitz had fallen off after the Battle of Britain, the Germans renewed their air attacks on British cities during 1943 in retaliation for the allied bombing of Berlin and other German cities.
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The renewed attacks caused considerable anxiety – especially with rumours of German Secret weapons. In March 1943, 173 men, women and children were killed when a crowd panicked whilst trying to get into the narrow entrance of the Bethnal Green underground station.
In June 1944, however, German Secret Weapons did arrive; firstly in the form of the V1 Flying Bomb – or ‘Doodlebug’. The first of these hit Grove Road in Bow on 13 June. The V1 appeared with very little warning, and detonated with a massive explosion. It caused much greater damage to people and buildings than conventional bombs and there was very little defence against them. Unlike the German aircraft, the V1 could attack at any time, so there was no nightly routine of gathering in the shelters and therefore no communal support.
Civilian morale began to collapse and the Government attempted to suppress information about the effects of the bombs. Some basic necessaries like childrens' clothing, cutlery and even toilet paper were in short supply – and everyone was fed up with rationing. Pilfering and theft were on the increase, especially from lorries and the docks; and the Black Market was growing – although working people were generally unable to pay the higher prices demanded.
A new wave of evacuation started and by August 1944 the population of London had fallen by more than a million.
A new terror hit London on 8 September when the first V2 rockets hit London. Flying very fast and at great height, the rockets were unstoppable and struck without warning. The damage they caused was so horrendous the government censored all reports about them. But it was hard to hide the damage.
In a crowded terraced street a single rocket could completely flatten a row of thirty houses and blow bodies over many rooftops. In November, a V2 hit a crowded Woolworths store in New Cross, killing 160 people. But the majority of rockets hit East or North East London, where the casualty figures were around 30 times higher than elsewhere.
Although the latter part of 1944 saw the tide of the war turning in favour of Britain and the Allies, the situation on the home front was desperate. In London there was a desperate shortage of accommodation. Much of London’s housing had been in poor condition before the war.
The years of bombing combined with the return of many evacuees to the East End led to a housing crisis. Furthermore, local authorities in the East End faced severe problems getting repairs carried out – and the poorer residents of those areas could not afford the inflated costs for private repairs.
To make matters worse, January 1945 brought the coldest winter in living memory, and the poor housing contributed to a growing public health crisis. Frostbite, hypothermia and rheumatism were common – and because of illness, factory production fell markedly. Discontent grew, and the last months of the war saw growing discontent – with waves of strikes affecting London’s transport and docks.
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