My Dad lived on Stanley Ave,in the Nissan huts I believe,after he was orphaned(late '40's)I'm not sure what he remembers about the area,but I will ask him,even better I'll get him to post his memories here himself I hope.
Great info! I wanted to know about gun sites in Higher Beb as my Dad was also in a reserved occupation in the HG and he cycled somewhere that way from Lower Beb, so that must be the place he went to. It's only when parents are gone that you wish you'd asked questions! Bri
hi,going off topic a bit but still ww2 does anyone know what was placed in wallasey central park in ww2,found a luftwaffer bombing map of wallasey targets and apart from the mills and gas works there is a item in the park around by where the bandstand would be that they have marked out,also does anyone remember the air raid shelter that was at the park entrance by martins lane/liscard road,can't find any info on any of these but you can still just about see the marking on the grass where the walls once stood at the shelter entrance.
Hope this works it is the first time I have used a forum.
I read your post with interest as I was born in June 1947, and lived with my mother in a hut in Stanley Avenue from the June to October in that year, after which she reluctantly gave me up for adoption.
I am in the process of tracing my family history, and any more information you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Great info! I wanted to know about gun sites in Higher Beb as my Dad was also in a reserved occupation in the HG and he cycled somewhere that way from Lower Beb, so that must be the place he went to.
Having got his H.G. Enrolment Form, it's signed by the Adjutant and Cmdg. Officer of 139th.'Z'A.A.Battery. The excellent book 'Birkenhead at War, 1939-45'(Ian Boumphrey) states that Stanley Ave, was 214th. Battery. Can anyone clarify the numbers and where would 139th. Battery have been? The signatures are Griffiths and A.S.Chambers and the latter got the M.B.E. in 1945, according to the book.
There were only 2 "Z" battery sites on the Wirral, New Brighton and Stanley Road. The main reason for the "Z" rocket system was that it was very cheap and easy to manufacture, at a time when we could not manufacture the complicated HAA guns as fast as what we would like, and we never had enough of them anyway.
Those of us at the posh Cheshire end of the Wirral, take note that Google Earth v6 now has aerial photography back to 1945 (in glorious b&w). Presumably the rest of the Wirral will follow in time.
There were only 2 "Z" battery sites on the Wirral, New Brighton and Stanley Road. The main reason for the "Z" rocket system was that it was very cheap and easy to manufacture, at a time when we could not manufacture the complicated HAA guns as fast as what we would like, and we never had enough of them anyway.
Those of us at the posh Cheshire end of the Wirral, take note that Google Earth v6 now has aerial photography back to 1945 (in glorious b&w). Presumably the rest of the Wirral will follow in time.
Thanks for the Google Earth update inf. Alas, my Lower Beb is just off in the blank bit. I'm intrigued to know who/how they did this at the end of the war. Presumably RAF photographic reconnaisance would have had this kind of technology, but kept it secret.
I've been going through the Wirral WW2 Decoy sites and getting aerial photos from the war period, and they (National Monuments Record NMR ) have been very helpful. It's a tiresome prosess, give them a modern OSGB reference, they tell you what they have, and then you order photocopies or whatever from them. They are very helpful. They have not failed yet for the Wirral (or Merseyside).
The Google Earth date is always 1/1/45, so I guess it is really a bit of a compromise.
The German Luftwaffe recconaisance images are held by the USA.
The images that I have been suplied with are all RAF vertical images. They appear to have oblique (sidewards looking rearwards) images of the coast.
Bit off topic. My mum went to Holt Hill convent and she tells me they had AA battery posted in their school playground, any confirmation?
Sister Mary Campion, who is archivist and historian for the FCJ sisters, relates that a barrage balloon was sited on the hockey field at Holt Hill Convent from April 1940, but there is no record of an AA battery.
There appears to be a large number of huts to the SW of Stanley Road, with the actual rocket site on both sides a little further south, with some disturbances of the ground showing which are probably the rocket launcher bases.
![[Linked Image]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5405127963_f3f64f8281_m.jpg)
