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Friends of Havelock Rec

Transcript of Stop 4 on Virtual & Audio Tour Featuring Memories & Local History

Posted on January 30 by Kerry Hood

At the Homesdale Road entrance to the park.

Stop 4 – Of WW2, Thornet Wood, Arthur’s Incendiary and the Johnson Road crash. 

Previous Stop – Next Stop

frosty park and terrace of houses with block of flats in the middle

View of the rear of Havelock Road from the park (2020-01-20)

 

Narrator:  If you turn and look back at the rear of the houses along Havelock road, you can see the terrace is interrupted by a block of flats.

Rebecca:  In WW2 this area suffered badly from the bombing. Each of the two blocks of flats in Havelock Road mark the sites of houses destroyed by German bombs.  The houses from 25 to 41 Havelock Road was demolished by an Aerial Mine, which was more destructive as it detonated above the ground.

Jo:  In Jubilee Country Park, you can see the concrete circles marking the site of the Thornet Wood Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery.  It was one of a defensive ring of gun sites encircling London during the War.  There were 8 big guns and rows of huts for the reserve unit 71st London Regiment that manned the battery.

WW2 artillery men around large gun

Thornet Wood Heavy Battery gun emplacements in 1941, thanks to Friends of Jubilee Country Park.

flare and silhouetted warden

ARP warden with Incendiary Bomb in WW2

 

Narrator:  ‘One day, when we were playing in the Brickie, one of the ARP wardens approached us boys. He told us “For God’s sake don’t do what I’m going to do” and he took an incendiary bomb he was carrying and lobbed it into the pit. It exploded with a blinding flash of white light, and the warden told us “that could have been you”. I can tell you, it fair put the wind up us…!’  Arthur Sheppeck in 2015.

 

 

Narrator:  Bromley is not far, as the crow flies, from the ww2 fighter station of RAF Biggin Hill, and with the anti-aircraft stationed locally as well, so it didn’t just suffer from not the bombs…

Sandra:   On November 9th, 1940, a German Heinkel bomber was shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and it crashed on Johnson Road (half a mile to the south of here), demolishing 2 houses and killing one of the residents.

men looking at bombs laid at the side of the road

Removing unexploded bombs, Johnson Road. Thanks to Brinley Hawkins.

collapsed house with airplane propeller sticking out

November 10th 1940 Heinkel bomber shot down on Johnson Rd

 

 

The bomber still had 30 live bombs on board, which had to be removed carefully by hand to the open space of Bromley Common and defused, by three service men who were awarded George Medals for their bravery. 

 

 

 

 

Jo:  From the bombers crew, only the navigator survived; he was arrested when his parachuted into a field near Sundridge Park. If you’re interested, there’s lots more detail on the Chatterton History Society website.

Tony reads Peter’s memory:  “One particular occasion was when a large general store in the market square was bombed, much of the rubble was also tipped over there (the brick pit). Some of the local Mums soon spent some time over there recovering molten bars of soap and other items.”  

skeletal remains of shop

April 16th, 1941. The bombed out Dunns furniture store

 

Narrator:  Continue clockwise around the edge of the park until you reach a large Sycamore tree on your left.

saplings and path in mist

Misty view down Raglan Avenue from the Homesdale Road entrance to the Park.

Posted in Audio Tour Transcript Page Virtual & Audio Memory Tour | Tagged Audio-tour-transcript-page Virtual-Audio-Tour-With-Memories

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Local History, Photos & Reminisces

Browse our collection of remarkable local reminisces in our oral history pages look at the park's previous incarnation as a working brickpit or a summary of it all here.

See also:

  • Bromley Civic Society
  • Friends of Whitehall Rec
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Check out the Gallery

Early morning landscape by Jon Emmanuel
Landscape by Jon Emmanuel
IYellow Lab Daphne playing with her friend Molly
It's snowing!
evening light over our park
snow angel!
10422371_10152598816492595_4131414265842496626_n
2002jul02 tansy with little cricket bat
2008 double rainbow brickfield
HotBalloon060630-3
033 field water fight
IMG_1001-3
dragging the sledge back up the dip
snowmen and snow forts in 2009
The firemen parachuted in to raise money in 2005
fun-in-the-snow
fun-in-the-snow2
fun-in-the-snow3
fun-in-the-snow4
fun-in-the-snow snowman making
sledging-the-dip
dog in the snow
15jul01_sunset_over_brickfield_havelock_rec.jpg
14jun08 50490 view pink clouds brickfield.JPG
15feb28 dog walkers in field.jpg
andy_loakes_snow_on_the_brickfield.jpg
14jun08 50495 view sunset brickfield.JPG
P1090838.JPG
15jun29_4567-brickfield-field-bindweed-768x1024.jpg
15jun29_4583-brickfield-elderflower-768x1024.jpg
15mar14-brickfield-bulbplanting.jpg
15mar14-di-and-felix-litterpicking-brickfield.jpg
16jan18_volunteers-planting-hedge-brickfield.jpg
16jul18 bug-day-tent-view.jpg
16jun12 big-lunch-tug-war.jpg
16sep12-hoedown-2.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20059-baker-girl-beauty-dancing-1024x768.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20064-andy-emma-connie-pimms-tent-768x1024.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20071-girls-umbrella-rainbowjpg-1024x768.jpg
1924 o-peills-brick-pit-half-mile-SW-Bickley-Stn-looking-S-16386_synch-l.jpg
1940 havelock-rd-bomb-damage-1940-4-e1437292677505-1024x699.jpg
P7190918-3rd-bromley-on-brickfield-1024x768.jpg
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