The Exeter blitz then & now

goodeavens · Oct 17, 2008

I have a great interest in the Exeter blitz, May 1942. My late grandad was down there with No 7 Bomb Disposal unit RE, his unit disposed of many of the unexploded bombs in the days following the big raid. Hope this is suitable for the site ? The two older photos have never been published before, as far as I know ? The two recent photos, I took in May 2007, 65 years on. Hope to add to these

Clearing up

Time for a cuppa

Exeter, Feltrim Avenue, wartime uxb site 65 years on

Exeter, Buddle lane, wartime uxb site 65 years on

Scotty · Oct 17, 2008

nice war time pics.

got any more

goodeavens · Oct 17, 2008

Unfortunately not Scotty

Foxylady · Oct 17, 2008

Oh, fantastic! I went to an exhibition about the Exeter Blitz that was held in the two museums there backalong, and it was brilliant. I even have the poster for it in my kitchen! :lol:

There are still many bombed remains of churches and ancient buildings in and around the city centre. I have a few black & white photos of them which I'll dig out and post up when I've got a mo.
Cheers.

Foxylady · Oct 17, 2008

Just remembered! I've got an old book about it which I picked up second-hand...
The Exeter Blitz by David Rees. 1978. ISBN 0 241 89759 9
It's a fiction for children, but it's got some good info in and the story-line gives an idea of what it must have been like.

goodeavens · Oct 17, 2008

Hi Foxylady, glad you liked the pictures, yes I have had a copy of the Exeter Blitz by David Rees, it is a very good book. I think the best book I have, or come across on the Exeter blitz is "Fire on the wind" by Peter Thomas, it contains the Exeter City and County bomb census, listing and detailing all the uxb sites. My grandad recalled that his unit defused & dealt with nine 500 kg bombs in one day alone. It is a very useful source for tracking these sites down. I`ve never made it to any of the blitz exhibitions at the RAMM yet, I was told by the friendly and helpful staff, that the "blitz rooms" (in the basement I think) are only open a couple of days a year. In fact one of those days has just passed a week or two ago. Never mind, I will get there eventually. One very interesting sight to see in Exeter is the bullet holes from the Luftwaffe bombers machine guns still in the masonry on the side of the telephone exchange. Cheers concretegarden

fishyd · Nov 21, 2008

Interesting pictures. I was brought up in Feltrim (and was just googling down memory lane when I came across this post) a short way up from the turning circle where you took the photo. I do remember my dad saying that a bomb had once fallen further down the road but didn't know it hadn't exploded.

Thanks

oldscrote · Nov 22, 2008

Hi love the original shots{any idea of the make of the truck?}From memory wasn't Exeter hit in Hitlers infamous Beadeker?raids along with Bath York Canterbury Norwich and one other that I can't remember.The Brits bombed the hell out of Lubeck{one of Germanys cultural centres}and Hitler in a bit of a temper took his revenge on 6 of ours taking the towns from the baedeker guide book to dear old Blighty.All of the towns and cities were non industrial and as such undefended,Bath alone had over 400 hundred killed in 2 nights.A visit to Haycombe cemetery in Bath to visit the war graves where the victims are buried is a very sobering experience.

Foxylady · Nov 22, 2008

Yes, it was. Wasn't Coventry the other one? That was some blitz!

Goldie87 · Nov 22, 2008

Interesting shots, someone did something similar with photos from the Leicester blitz

RAF_Firenat999 · Nov 22, 2008

speaking of exeter, it doesnt really warrant it's own post, but theres a place called crossmead where i did some security thats empty, it was part of the old university, and before that was owned by the most prosperous business family in Exeter back in the Victorian times, worth a visit if your in Exeter. its been empty since 2005, very creepy intesting place. :neutral:

kernowexpeditionary · Nov 22, 2008

interesting, the general civilian bombing of london was started by a few lost german planes, ditching bombs (unknowingly over london,) before heading home, we responded by bombing berlin the very next night....

Foxylady · Nov 22, 2008

RAF_Firenat999 said:
speaking of exeter, it doesnt really warrant it's own post, but theres a place called crossmead where i did some security thats empty, it was part of the old university, and before that was owned by the most prosperous business family in Exeter back in the Victorian times, worth a visit if your in Exeter. its been empty since 2005, very creepy intesting place.

Ooh, is that off Heavitree Road? It looks familiar. Was it once a conference centre near Reed Hall? I think I'll have to take a visit there...there's a few places in Exeter I want to look at now. :mrgreen:

krela · Nov 22, 2008

kernowexpeditionary said:
interesting, the general civilian bombing of london was started by a few lost german planes, ditching bombs (unknowingly over london,) before heading home, we responded by bombing berlin the very next night....

Which is possibly one of the strange actions that won the war for us.

When we bombed Berlin Hitler got extremely mad and diverted his bombing efforts away from UK airfields and onto our cities. Whist devastating for the population it meant that we managed to win the battle of britain meaning Hitler was less able to invade the UK and made him look to the east and invade Russia instead.

Had those lost German bombers not accidentally dropped their bombs on London the war might have been very different, our airfields might have been decimated and Hitler might have invaded.

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