Barrage Balloon Anchors

One thing I failed to mention on my previous posts about the air-raid shelter in the War Memorial Park is the close proximity of a handful of barrage balloon anchors. The council have made a nice educational area around them including a display board that hints at the possibility that the nearby air raid shelter may have been used for storing the equipment required for these barrage balloons and the safety of the ground crew.

Note that the smaller cubes are modern additions for children to sit in this area etc. The barrage balloon anchors are the larger cubes. They are made of solid concrete and are obviously extremely heavy to be able to weigh down the huge balloons that would have flown above them. Being so heavy I suppose the council thought it a waste of resources to move them after the war ended. There are 3 located here. (note in the picture above the trees. This is where the shelter is located and highlights the closeness to the barrage balloons)

Each cube has metal rings attached to the side that I assume held the metal cables in place when operational. These are a great example of something left on the landscape after the war as I'm sure plenty of people have walked past them down the years without giving much thought to what they actually were, just accepting that they are there. It makes me wonder what else I have walked past, particularly when I was younger without realising its true purpose.

The War Memorial Park shelter from above

As a follow on from the last post about the air raid shelter in the War Memorial Park I thought it would be interesting to show what the area looks like from the sky today compared to in 1945.

From above you can see the line of trees (inside the white box) that shoots out from the path. The shelter is located under these trees which are pretty dense here in a picture from 1997. Compare the same area from an aerial photograph from 1945 below.

A little bit harder to see the same treeline in the photo from 1945 however you can make it out. Obviously this is a lot less dense than in the top photo as the trees there have matured but it is interesting to note that elsewhere in the park in 1945 there is little vegetation or trees. This is very apparent when looking at the paths to the top right around the fairly new War Memorial (1927). In fact the area where they have decided to build the shelter is in one of the densest areas of tree cover in the park in 1945.

The Air Raid Shelter in The War Memorial Park

If you take a walk along the path from the main War Memorial Park Car Park and head towards 'Coat of Arms Bridge' then you will eventually come across this interesting concrete shape built in to the ground next to a small tree covered area.

This is the entrance to a Second World War air raid shelter. In the distance you can see the square concrete secondary hole located at presumably the other end of the shelter underground. This shelter has been completely filled in and had become overgrown, hidden from view, until the 'Friends of the War Memorial Park' cleared the entrance recently. Presumably if dug out this would reveal steps leading down between the concrete walls in to the shelter. As there was barrage balloons and anti aircraft guns located in the park it has been mentioned that this shelter was used for both the storing of equipment and the protection of the people operating these devices.

Seeing these strange concrete shapes in the ground has made me think I am sure I have seen similar things in other places but cant quite picture exactly where. A great example however of a change in the landscape due to the war that still exists to this day. Before the site was cleared to the present state and before the information plaques had been put up nearby I wonder how many people had walked past this blissfully unaware of the history they were passing.

You can read more about the clearing of the site here

View Coventry War Memorial Park Air Raid Shelter in a larger map

Welcome to my blitz bits blog

I've always been fascinated by that period in our countrys history where most nights were spent cowering in cold and damp air raid shelters in the garden or street. I am of course referring to the blitz. As I live in Coventry i have a permanent reminder on my doorstep of this time in the shape of the ruined old cathedral. Most Coventrians know what happened to our city 70 years ago. What most don't know is that there are quite a number of telltale hints in our geography to either the damage done, the preparations taken or the monuments erected in memory of this period. Some of these I have heard of through the local media, older residents or other sources. I suspect there are many I have not discovered yet. Hopefully in this amateur blog I might be able to show a few within my city and maybe learn a few things along the way.