Belvedere has a strong industrial past much of it associated with the military.
Witness the close by Woolwich Arsenal which used part of Belvedere Marsh for testing weapons and storing explosive material.
There was the Vickers factory at Erith and its previous association with Hiram Maxim and Thorsten Nordenfelt who had a pub named after him on Erith Road. This and the surrounding area is affectionately known as the 'Pom Pom' so called after the noise made by Hiram Maxim's QF 1-Pounder auto cannon. The military association brought its problems as the pictures below testify.
(See also the 'The Great Flood of 1953' page.)
Witness the close by Woolwich Arsenal which used part of Belvedere Marsh for testing weapons and storing explosive material.
There was the Vickers factory at Erith and its previous association with Hiram Maxim and Thorsten Nordenfelt who had a pub named after him on Erith Road. This and the surrounding area is affectionately known as the 'Pom Pom' so called after the noise made by Hiram Maxim's QF 1-Pounder auto cannon. The military association brought its problems as the pictures below testify.
(See also the 'The Great Flood of 1953' page.)
The Big Bang of 1864
Extract from the Dictionary of Victorian London
The remaining incident of 1864 to which I shall refer commenced with a personal experience. I was sitting at breakfast on Saturday, October 1st, when the windows rattled loudly, articles on the table became endowed with life, the cat leaped off the hearth-rug, and then came a resounding bang which seemed to roll and linger like thunder sometimes does. Evidently an explosion, and a big one too; but where? Later in the day, we learned that Messrs. Hall & Sons' gunpowder mills at Belvedere, near Erith, had blown up with fatal consequences. It seemed that a powder-laden barge alongside their wharf had led the way, and the mills had promptly followed skywards. Numbers of windows in Woolwich and Charlton fell out, but Greenwich had escaped with comparatively light casualties. Erith church was reported wrecked, and at the Crystal Palace, in addition to breaking a fair quantity of glass, the explosion had very considerately, but rather superfluously, rung the fireman's alarm-bell.
It came into my head that the scene would be worth seeing, so next day, Sunday, instead of going to church, I walked to the New Cross Station of the South-Eastern Railway-Greenwich then possessing no rail connection with Charlton, Woolwich or Erith - and booked for Belvedere. It appeared that the same idea had occurred to several thousand others, with the result that special trains were being run. At Belvedere I found a big crowd already assembled, with hawkers of fruits and refreshments in attendance. But there was nothing to see. The mills had been entirely dispersed, with the exception of a few fragments of wall, while trees, and a few cottages and out-buildings (the powder-mills had stood, as was fitting, in a somewhat secluded position) had been levelled for a considerable distance around. I could only discern two or three haystacks erect in the distance, and wondered why they should have escaped while much more substantial structures had departed. In reading and endeavouring to realise the effects of mines and monster shells on the French front during the Great War this Belvedere experience stood me in good stead.
I soon returned to the station and home. It was lucky that I did so, for later in the day great delays and crushes occurred, one man being pushed under a train and killed. The railway company failed to rise to the occasion as they might have done, and the last load of returning sightseers did not leave Erith until three o'clock on Monday morning.
Please click on any of the images below to view them full size.
Extract from the Dictionary of Victorian London
The remaining incident of 1864 to which I shall refer commenced with a personal experience. I was sitting at breakfast on Saturday, October 1st, when the windows rattled loudly, articles on the table became endowed with life, the cat leaped off the hearth-rug, and then came a resounding bang which seemed to roll and linger like thunder sometimes does. Evidently an explosion, and a big one too; but where? Later in the day, we learned that Messrs. Hall & Sons' gunpowder mills at Belvedere, near Erith, had blown up with fatal consequences. It seemed that a powder-laden barge alongside their wharf had led the way, and the mills had promptly followed skywards. Numbers of windows in Woolwich and Charlton fell out, but Greenwich had escaped with comparatively light casualties. Erith church was reported wrecked, and at the Crystal Palace, in addition to breaking a fair quantity of glass, the explosion had very considerately, but rather superfluously, rung the fireman's alarm-bell.
It came into my head that the scene would be worth seeing, so next day, Sunday, instead of going to church, I walked to the New Cross Station of the South-Eastern Railway-Greenwich then possessing no rail connection with Charlton, Woolwich or Erith - and booked for Belvedere. It appeared that the same idea had occurred to several thousand others, with the result that special trains were being run. At Belvedere I found a big crowd already assembled, with hawkers of fruits and refreshments in attendance. But there was nothing to see. The mills had been entirely dispersed, with the exception of a few fragments of wall, while trees, and a few cottages and out-buildings (the powder-mills had stood, as was fitting, in a somewhat secluded position) had been levelled for a considerable distance around. I could only discern two or three haystacks erect in the distance, and wondered why they should have escaped while much more substantial structures had departed. In reading and endeavouring to realise the effects of mines and monster shells on the French front during the Great War this Belvedere experience stood me in good stead.
I soon returned to the station and home. It was lucky that I did so, for later in the day great delays and crushes occurred, one man being pushed under a train and killed. The railway company failed to rise to the occasion as they might have done, and the last load of returning sightseers did not leave Erith until three o'clock on Monday morning.
Please click on any of the images below to view them full size.
The Second World War had a profound impact on Belvedere.
Many local people served in the armed forces. A memorial in All Saints Church records the names of those who died fighting for their country. There were also numerous civilian casualties.
Because of the defence industries in the area, Belvedere was a major target for enemy bombing. After the declaration of war in September 1939 local school children were evacuated for safety to villages in rural Kent.
Erith Borough Council was responsible for civil defence in the area, building air raid shelters, organising the Air Raid Wardens Service and distributing propaganda. In Erith as a whole 444 high explosive and 8,510 incendiary and 12 flying bombs were dropped during the Blitz, while 109 civilians were killed and 509 seriously injured. A total of 572 properties were completely destroyed and 750 seriously damaged. One famous casualty was the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, a renowned bomb disposal expert, killed while defusing an unexploded bomb on Belvedere Marshes on 12 May 1941.
The Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 was supplied with petrol through PLUTO; the pipeline under the ocean. This avoided the necessity of capturing a major port through which fuel could be transported to the front. The pipeline itself was manufactured by Callender’s Cables at its factory in nearby Erith. Some of the mulberry harbours used in the D-day landings were also constructed locally by Muttall Brothers.
Victory in Europe Day was celebrated in Belvedere as elsewhere on 8 May 1945 with numerous street parties such as the one in Stapleton Road. Fighting against Japan continued until 14 August, while restrictions such as rationing and identity cards remained in place until the 1950s and repairs to war damaged properties continued into the 1960s.
Many local people served in the armed forces. A memorial in All Saints Church records the names of those who died fighting for their country. There were also numerous civilian casualties.
Because of the defence industries in the area, Belvedere was a major target for enemy bombing. After the declaration of war in September 1939 local school children were evacuated for safety to villages in rural Kent.
Erith Borough Council was responsible for civil defence in the area, building air raid shelters, organising the Air Raid Wardens Service and distributing propaganda. In Erith as a whole 444 high explosive and 8,510 incendiary and 12 flying bombs were dropped during the Blitz, while 109 civilians were killed and 509 seriously injured. A total of 572 properties were completely destroyed and 750 seriously damaged. One famous casualty was the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, a renowned bomb disposal expert, killed while defusing an unexploded bomb on Belvedere Marshes on 12 May 1941.
The Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 was supplied with petrol through PLUTO; the pipeline under the ocean. This avoided the necessity of capturing a major port through which fuel could be transported to the front. The pipeline itself was manufactured by Callender’s Cables at its factory in nearby Erith. Some of the mulberry harbours used in the D-day landings were also constructed locally by Muttall Brothers.
Victory in Europe Day was celebrated in Belvedere as elsewhere on 8 May 1945 with numerous street parties such as the one in Stapleton Road. Fighting against Japan continued until 14 August, while restrictions such as rationing and identity cards remained in place until the 1950s and repairs to war damaged properties continued into the 1960s.
In Bomb Alley: the local area in World war Two
The actor, Bill Pertwee, best known for his role as Chief Air Raid Warden Hodges in the popular television series Dad’s Army, recalls staying with his aunt and uncle in Belvedere in June 1940;
“ On the night of Antony Eden’s broadcast asking for volunteers to help fight a possible German invasion force, my uncle went straight down to the local police station to enlist. Uncle Bill Tobin was a strapping great Irishman of 6ft 3in who had been through the First World War; in fact he was a boy bugler in the Boer War… On the night in question Uncle Bill said to the police sergeant on duty at the station, “I’m Captain Tobin (his rank in the First World War) and I’m taking command of the local volunteers.” Apparently, so we heard afterwards, the police sergeant hadn’t listened to Eden’s broadcast and thought that here was some lunatic playing games.”
Later, he moved into a bungalow on Dartford Heath, a mile or so from the anti-aircraft guns based on the heath. He observed: “we were directly under, or so it seemed, the majority of air battles being fought out in the summer skies between the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe and our own Spitfires and Hurricanes”
Foreward to David Carroll, Dad’s Army: the Home Guard 1940-1944 Sutton (2002)
Facts & Figures;
From 1939 to 1945 the “alert” was sounded in Erith 1050 times.
Within the borough were dropped 444 high explosive bombs, 10 oil bombs, 6 parachute mines, 12 V1 flying bombs, 15 V2 rockets and approximately 8,500 incendiaries.
572 properties were destroyed and 10,904 damaged 750 of them severely.
There were 109 people killed and 1381 people injured, 509 of them severely enough to be detained in hospital.
2500 children were evacuated and 2911 homeless people were accommodated in rest centres.
Home Fires a collection of photographs of the borough at war can be found on the shelves at 942.177 .
The sound of air raid siren and of the air battles overhead became increasingly familiar in Erith throughout July and August 1940. The first serious damage in Erith occurred on the night of 5th/6th September when a number of bombs were dropped on Glenview and West Heath Road. The Thameside location lay under the pathway of the Luftwaffe, a factor of increasing importance when in September the Luftwaffe switched their attacks from fighter bases and radar stations to target London.
The area lay underneath a bomb alley, not only on route to London but also the strategic target of Woolwich Arsenal and its munitions output. During the Blitz the Arsenal was targeted and although the facility was in direct line of German bomber raids on the East End and the docks, relatively few bombs were dropped on the site.
In the six years a total of 25 raids were launched by either bombers or V-rockets.
The casualty list over the six years was 103 killed, 770 wounded, although the majority of the dead came in the first raid on 7th September 1940 when 53 people were killed and 247 wounded. The other major attack came on 2nd July 1944 when a V1 rocket struck during the lunch break, killing 17 and injuring 100.
Despite this, the Arsenal worked at full capacity, producing large numbers of tanks, ammunition, guns and specialist military vehicles. Work was transferred elsewhere and the labour force almost halved from 32,500 to 15,500 by the end of the war. But all along the water front there were factories engaged in essential war work like Siemen’s the communication manufacturers who worked on telephones for Russia.
Besides Erith’s industrial complex of engineering factories engaged in war work, the Callender cable works and Vickers works at Crayford, there were two prime targets in nearby Slade Green, the Thames Ammunition works and the Railway Depot. There were military targets such as heavy anti-aircraft batteries on the marsh near Wallhouse Farm and Dartford Heath. There were light anti-aircraft guns mounted in open spaces like at Bostall and Danson Park.
“The area’s defence measures included Barrage Ballons, concrete road blocks and anti-aircraft batteries. Devon Park in Welling for instance had a heavy gun battery with six-inch guns. Mobile gun batteries on trailers, driven by army lorries, were parked in open spaces such as Russell Park, Bexleyheath, and in Bexleyheath School grounds.” (Richard Blyth. Kentish Suburbia at War – Bexley, Crayford & Erith, 1939-1945 in Whyman (1990)).
There were smoke pots – old beer barrels filled with burning tar and lit during moonlight periods to create a smoke screen starting at Crayford Hill up to the end of Mayplace Road, Bexleyheath.
Today there are occassional remaining features of those measures doted around the area such as the bricked-up pill box in the park by Belvedere library in Woolwich Road, the concrete remenants of the four-gun anti-aircraft battery, with command post, outlying pillboxes, air raid shetlers and other structures seen on Erith marshes from Wallhouse Road and the X-ray department.
Saturday September 7th saw over 1,000 German aircraft converge on London in a raid lasting one-and-a-half hours in the start of the Blitz. Hundreds of aircraft fought overhead and 18 bombs fell on Erith as well as cannon shells and gunfire.
Daylight raids continued throughout September and October, the main blitz continued by night, and from September 7th to November 13th London was raided every night, for 68 in succession. On 29 of these nights there were ‘incidents’ in Erith.
Sources used
Unpublished Mss held in Bexley Local Studies Collection: J.A. Prichard, Erith Under Fire, R.V.Stevens, Borough of Bexley Record of Incidents
J. Whyman (ed) Kent During the Second World War, Selected Historical Studies. University of Kent at Canterbury (1990).
Published sources: Blake, Lewis. Red Alert: the story of South East London at war, 1939-1945. Published by author 1992, Blake, Lewis. Blots from the Blue (1990),
Ogley, Bob. Kent At War: The Unconquered County 1939-1945, Froglets Publication (Westerham) 1994
Ogley, Bob. Doodlebugs and Rockets: the battle of the flying bombs, Froglets Publication (Westerham) 1992
Scott, Mick. Home Fires: a borough at War, Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre 1986
More stories of war time Belvedere at http://belvederestories.co.uk/about/histor/belvedere-in-the-second-world-war/
Bombing incidents during 1941 in Erith/ Belvedere area
January 7th Woolwich Road, Belvedere hit by stray bomb.
January 12th Callender’s cable works hit and Belvedere Co-op drapery store burned out.
January 19th and 29th More bombs fell on the borough.
January 21st/22nd Bexley Mental Hospital, near Dartford, was hit and 13 people killed when two wards collapsed.
March 15th Parachute mines.
March 19th Heavy attack on Belvedere’s Woolwich Road area damaged 800 houses.
March 20th Further damage saw several hundred rescue parties and workmen involved in operations.
April 16th/17th (Pictured in Home Fires)
Thames Stream Saw Mills and Albert Products were hit. Belvedere Station was struck, the track torn up and a train partly derailed.
A single parachute mine in King Harolds Way and Abbots Walk damaged over 1000 houses. Blast damage was caused over an area half a mile in diameter. 77 bungalows near the centre were destroyed or suffered major damage . Gas and water supplies were cut off and many homeless families accommodated in Bedonwell School.
E.O.Thomas in his history of Slade Green recounts the bravery during incendiary raid on sidings near Northend Crossing threatening munition wagons full of naval depth charges.
April 19th/20th (Pictured in Home Fires)
Fraser’s in Erith was hit and Burndept’s factory burnt out. Three high explosive bombs landed in Howbury Lane and together with many incendiary bombs caused extensive damage to the railway depot andhouses in howbury Lane, Oak Road and Lincoln Road.
Belvedere was devastasted by parachute mines at Lessness Park and Picardy Street where a 200lb bomb demolished 32 houses and shops creating a crater 60ft across blocking the road and cutting the trolly bus route. There were many casualties among the inhabitants of Picardy Street, and one was awarded the George Medal for Gallantry. 5,000 houses in Erith needed repair work. High explosive bombs at Albert Road, Cranbrook Road and Abbey Wood were among other major incidents.
After May 1941 raids over Erith were only scattered and occassional, though widespread minor damage was frequently caused by splinters from the shells and rockets of the anti-aircraft barrage.
Less intense bombing did occur : On February 9th 1943 a low-level morning raid by a single plane damaged over 200 houses.
In the early month of 1944 heavier raiding was resumed for a short while, the worst incident in Erith occuring in January when the fire station was demolished by a direct hit. St Augusrtine’s Church (Slade Green) was partly demolished and many houses in the area damaged during an air raid on 21 January.
The area also suffered from attacks by the V1 and V2 (v=vergeltung “retaliation”) rocket attacks.
On 24 February an aircraft crashed into the orchard at North End causing damage to houses in Page Crescent. V2 rocket exploded near ‘Speakers Works’ on February 19th 1945, causing damage to the works and houses in Page Crescent and Arthur Street, Slade Green. On 19th March, thirty-two were injured in North road when a rocket landed in a nearby field.
Amongst the last recorded incidents was on February 26th 1945 , six were killed, 21 seriously wounded and 110 slightly hurt as well as widespread damage to Upper Abbey Road, Belvedere occurred when a V2 rocket fell on the area around 11.26 in the morning. (pictured in Home Fires).
January 7th Woolwich Road, Belvedere hit by stray bomb.
January 12th Callender’s cable works hit and Belvedere Co-op drapery store burned out.
January 19th and 29th More bombs fell on the borough.
January 21st/22nd Bexley Mental Hospital, near Dartford, was hit and 13 people killed when two wards collapsed.
March 15th Parachute mines.
March 19th Heavy attack on Belvedere’s Woolwich Road area damaged 800 houses.
March 20th Further damage saw several hundred rescue parties and workmen involved in operations.
April 16th/17th (Pictured in Home Fires)
Thames Stream Saw Mills and Albert Products were hit. Belvedere Station was struck, the track torn up and a train partly derailed.
A single parachute mine in King Harolds Way and Abbots Walk damaged over 1000 houses. Blast damage was caused over an area half a mile in diameter. 77 bungalows near the centre were destroyed or suffered major damage . Gas and water supplies were cut off and many homeless families accommodated in Bedonwell School.
E.O.Thomas in his history of Slade Green recounts the bravery during incendiary raid on sidings near Northend Crossing threatening munition wagons full of naval depth charges.
April 19th/20th (Pictured in Home Fires)
Fraser’s in Erith was hit and Burndept’s factory burnt out. Three high explosive bombs landed in Howbury Lane and together with many incendiary bombs caused extensive damage to the railway depot andhouses in howbury Lane, Oak Road and Lincoln Road.
Belvedere was devastasted by parachute mines at Lessness Park and Picardy Street where a 200lb bomb demolished 32 houses and shops creating a crater 60ft across blocking the road and cutting the trolly bus route. There were many casualties among the inhabitants of Picardy Street, and one was awarded the George Medal for Gallantry. 5,000 houses in Erith needed repair work. High explosive bombs at Albert Road, Cranbrook Road and Abbey Wood were among other major incidents.
After May 1941 raids over Erith were only scattered and occassional, though widespread minor damage was frequently caused by splinters from the shells and rockets of the anti-aircraft barrage.
Less intense bombing did occur : On February 9th 1943 a low-level morning raid by a single plane damaged over 200 houses.
In the early month of 1944 heavier raiding was resumed for a short while, the worst incident in Erith occuring in January when the fire station was demolished by a direct hit. St Augusrtine’s Church (Slade Green) was partly demolished and many houses in the area damaged during an air raid on 21 January.
The area also suffered from attacks by the V1 and V2 (v=vergeltung “retaliation”) rocket attacks.
On 24 February an aircraft crashed into the orchard at North End causing damage to houses in Page Crescent. V2 rocket exploded near ‘Speakers Works’ on February 19th 1945, causing damage to the works and houses in Page Crescent and Arthur Street, Slade Green. On 19th March, thirty-two were injured in North road when a rocket landed in a nearby field.
Amongst the last recorded incidents was on February 26th 1945 , six were killed, 21 seriously wounded and 110 slightly hurt as well as widespread damage to Upper Abbey Road, Belvedere occurred when a V2 rocket fell on the area around 11.26 in the morning. (pictured in Home Fires).