Facebook: Friends of the Tank Museum

[Westmarcher]

Indeed. How often do we see for storyline purposes in movies and TV, the hero returning to a less than welcoming family? Heart warming to see some genuine pleasure when the man returns. The look on that wee boy's face to see his daddy (what age must he have been when they last saw each other?) .... 

[John Cook]

That's a great photo!

It is.  Check out the 'prefab'.  They were supposed to last ten years.  I remember them on Wandsworth Common in the mid-1960s and I think some were still in use elsewhere in London as recently as 2018.

[Steve J]

We still have some here in Bristol and IIRC, they have been given listed status, or something similar. Apparently a lot of the owners love them.

[Westmarcher]

Likewise in Paisley, Scotland.

[Ace of Spades]

Similar projects in the Netherlands also still stand and are now protected. Amazing how small some of these houses are compared to what we are used to these days...

Cheers,
Rob

[John Cook]

Many of the people who moved into prefabs came from the most heavily bombed parts of the cities, which tended to be ports and industrial areas where housing, such as in the East End of London, tended to be Victorian terraces with outside toilets, often communal, and no bathroom.  The irony was that the prefabs with an indoor toilet and bathroom were a complete revelation and actually far better, and healthier than what they left.  So every cloud has a silver lining and thanks to the Luftwaffe some of the appallingly bad housing in British cities was demolished a long time before it would otherwise have been done.

[Ithoriel]

Similar projects in the Netherlands also still stand and are now protected. Amazing how small some of these houses are compared to what we are used to these days...

Cheers,
Rob

The prefab houses were so small, on the estate in Rosyth, that it was known locally as Dollytown. First house I lived in as a baby was there.

[paulr]

Many of the people who moved into prefabs came from the most heavily bombed parts of the cities, which tended to be ports and industrial areas where housing, such as in the East End of London, tended to be Victorian terraces with outside toilets, often communal, and no bathroom.  The irony was that the prefabs with an indoor toilet and bathroom were a complete revelation and actually far better, and healthier than what they left.  So every cloud has a silver lining and thanks to the Luftwaffe some of the appallingly bad housing in British cities was demolished a long time before it would otherwise have been done.

What's the Luftwaffe ever done for us...   

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

In Liverpool it was the city council who removed most of the slums....last prefabs disappeared in the early to mid 60's.

[fsn]

This very unusual conversion seems to be a captured T34 fitted with a German flakvierling 38 20mm quad mount in a locally produced turret.  It was supposedly used by Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653, the heavy anti-tank battalion equipped with Elefant / Ferdinand tank hunters.  However, the date given is July 1944, by which time the unit had moved to the Italian front, and I'm afraid we don't have primary sources for either unit or date.

[fsn]

A burst of flame fired from a Matilda Frog. The Frog was developed by the Australians from the A12 Matilda tank. 25 were converted in 1944. The flame thrower was operated by gas pressure. It had a range of around 100m but needed 20 seconds between shots for the pressure to rise again. The Frog saw service in New Guinea. Matildas of all types were popular with the Australians as they were heavily armoured and had enough firepower for the bunkers that were their main targets. Some stayed in service until 1955, and today most surviving Matildas can be found in Australia.


It's the poor people in the ambulances I feel sorry for.

[steve_holmes_11]

Many of the people who moved into prefabs came from the most heavily bombed parts of the cities, which tended to be ports and industrial areas where housing, such as in the East End of London, tended to be Victorian terraces with outside toilets, often communal, and no bathroom.  The irony was that the prefabs with an indoor toilet and bathroom were a complete revelation and actually far better, and healthier than what they left.  So every cloud has a silver lining and thanks to the Luftwaffe some of the appallingly bad housing in British cities was demolished a long time before it would otherwise have been done.

There's a joke: Postwar I'm sure, about a bombing raid on (insert town name here) causing a quarter million pound's worth of improvements.

[Ithoriel]

"Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough"

[steve_holmes_11]

What's the Luftwaffe ever done for us...   

Among other "improvements" postwar bombsites became urban car parks, or venues of ad-hoc cycle speedway clubs.

In my home town of Ilford, the Super Cinema took a V1 strike.
Postwar the site was rebuilt as the glamorous new C&A store.

Slightly further north the Fairlop Oak Pub's rubble became home to several cycle speedway groups.
When the New Fairlop Oak was built, a fundraiser constructed a track on the edge of the old Fairlop airfield, and the action shifted out there.

[fsn]

A Troop of Centurions from 6th Royal Tank Regiment making great use of the local flora for camouflage. The 'Hohne Organ' attached to the end of the gun barrels was an early form of gunfire simulator. Each tube contained a bag of electrically detonated explosive powder. The resulting puff of smoke had the same effect for training purposes, but was far cheaper than firing a main gun round. This photograph was taken by Hugh Leach, who served with 3rd and 6th RTR during the 1950s and 60s, including taking part in the Suez invasion in 1956.