Merseyside War Years - 7th Aug 2012 7:50pm
Admin approved
Merseyside War Years
Without a shadow of a doubt, the streets of Britain suffered their most terrible hardships during the terrors of World War Two. No road was safe from destruction, no avenue free from fear. The streets of Merseyside in particular would exhibit some of the most awful examples of wartime obliteration to ever take place. Proud Victorian houses were easily rendered to dust, whole neighbourhoods totally blemished with craters. The residents of these streets lived alongside the constant threat of invasion by land, sea and most catastrophically, by air.
With its strategic shipping ports and factories, the towns and cities dotted along the Mersey became some of Hitler's most heavily targeted sites during the conflict. In August 1940 the German Luftwaffe attacked Birkenhead in what was to be the first of over 300 such bombing raids Merseyside sustained that year. Almost 4,000 people perished and many more were seriously injured as the streets and buildings of Liverpool and Wirral were destroyed and their residents left in turmoil.
To show the transition from those deadly dark days, I've put together a new book. Merseyside War Years Then and Now features 45 vistas of bomb-damaged suburbia and city centre carnage alongside photographs of the area how it is today. The book sensitively documents the changes and developments that have taken place since wartime, demonstrating both architectural progress and Britain's resilience in the face of adversity.
The Derby Pool at New Brighton
The amazing community here at WikiWirral gets an acknowledgement as many of you, several months back now, actually helped with the research which put this book together . I'm very grateful for your assistance with it and I hope you like it. It's out in most book shops and available to pick up online now, fresh from the printers.
Merseyside War Years
Without a shadow of a doubt, the streets of Britain suffered their most terrible hardships during the terrors of World War Two. No road was safe from destruction, no avenue free from fear. The streets of Merseyside in particular would exhibit some of the most awful examples of wartime obliteration to ever take place. Proud Victorian houses were easily rendered to dust, whole neighbourhoods totally blemished with craters. The residents of these streets lived alongside the constant threat of invasion by land, sea and most catastrophically, by air.
With its strategic shipping ports and factories, the towns and cities dotted along the Mersey became some of Hitler's most heavily targeted sites during the conflict. In August 1940 the German Luftwaffe attacked Birkenhead in what was to be the first of over 300 such bombing raids Merseyside sustained that year. Almost 4,000 people perished and many more were seriously injured as the streets and buildings of Liverpool and Wirral were destroyed and their residents left in turmoil.
To show the transition from those deadly dark days, I've put together a new book. Merseyside War Years Then and Now features 45 vistas of bomb-damaged suburbia and city centre carnage alongside photographs of the area how it is today. The book sensitively documents the changes and developments that have taken place since wartime, demonstrating both architectural progress and Britain's resilience in the face of adversity.
The Derby Pool at New Brighton
The amazing community here at WikiWirral gets an acknowledgement as many of you, several months back now, actually helped with the research which put this book together . I'm very grateful for your assistance with it and I hope you like it. It's out in most book shops and available to pick up online now, fresh from the printers.