Tony

Can anyone tell me anything about these two? Country/countries of origin, used by which armies, age? They were bought together but as the bayonet fits so poorly into the scabbard, I wouldn't have thought they started out together. There are some markings on the bayonet, these are pictured below. Thanks Tony

David, I wish they had always written what they had photographed on the back of their photos, including names, ranks and units of any soldiers in the background, where the photo was taken & exact date. Thanks for your reply and welcome to the forum. Tony

I asked my uncle about life back then and although my family is from Bermondsey, it borders Deptford and is only a couple of miles from Lewisham. Romford can?t be that far away by bomber, a couple of minutes may be. I would think most boys in South London and in fact any other city being bombed, whether by the Luftwaffe or the RAF, had much the same experience. Rockets in the park are mentioned, these were set up in Southwark Park during the middle of the war and I now know my Grandad was bombed out in May 1941. We were living at 61, Martins Crescent when the Blitz started in Sept '40. Your mum was born during an air raid but I don't think it was in our house. We didn't have a shelter. So we used to go up the road to some neighbours called the Mc'Guires every night. While Ted and I were in the shelter your mum was being born in the house while all the bombs were falling and the ack-ack guns were going off. I think the house was number 25 or 27, It might be on her birth certificate. Across the road several houses were bombed. I don't know how close that was to mum's birth date. I can still remember the smell of gas and dust in the air when we went out the next day. We used to collect shrapnel and bits of incendiary bombs to take to the scrap merchant. Number 61 was bombed or suffered bomb damage on the night of 10th/ 11th of May 1941, after the war Gran'pa got compensation of ?135. Yes, I do remember the rockets round the park. There was a whole battery of them on the oval in Southwark Park along with ack ack guns. There was also a Barrage balloon emplacement next to the grandstand.

It seems the RN was responsible for making parachute mines safe, whereas the army did the rest. Oil bombs (another new one for me) are mentioned quite a bit too but they don't seem to have been dropped in large numbers. Tony

Bermondsey was bombed on 57 consecutive nights in 1940, the target for the first attack and many afterwards were the docks. No doubt neighbouring Deptford suffered badly too. On 18th September parachute mines were dropped for the first time. Does anyone know about this type of bomb? During the first 55 days of the Blitz, Bermondsey had 229 air raid warnings of which only 77 developed into actual raids on Bermondsey. The 57 consecutive raid took place on 2nd November 1940, the next raid didn?t happen till 7th November. I used to go to school down Drummond Rd., just next door to Peek Frean?s. I usually grabbed some food at my Grandad?s or the chippy down Blue Anchor Lane during the lunch break, and walked along to the park at St. James's church. This day I met a few kids from school who had found a very small bomb, probably no more than 1 1/2 foot long. This was where the old Victorian terraces were being pulled down either directly on St. James's Rd. or somewhere in Webster Rd. We all had a good look at it and then they took it to school to show it off a bit. By the time lunch break was over, the school had been cordoned off by the police and the bomb squad was there (not a rare sight in London during the mid 70s). We were all told to go home and I was chuffed to bits. I now think the bomb may have been an incendiary. I?ve seen a photo of a B17 named Rotherhithe?s Revenge but don?t know what happened to it. The photo showed the crew and mayor of Bermondsey. After a quick search I found this site http://www.381st.org/noseart-r.html Rotherhithe?s Revenge made it safely back to the US in September 1945 after completing 122 missions. Did Lewisham or Deptford have fund raised bombers? The following link also shows a link for Lewisham market, S. Londoner?s stories and has shown me that the damage to my Grandad?s house was indeed caused by a V2 landing on John Bull Arch on 5.11.44. Not the last to fall on Bermondsey as my Mum told me but the last in her immediate area. http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/web_content_se16.html The last two pictures in this link show Deptford, the bottom picture is Woolies at Deptford, the one my Nan remembers quite clearly. http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server...-the-Blitz.html

Thanks for clarifying and letting us join Chris. Some 'thingies' of mine, I can't find my rotating wheel badge which is a shame as I like playing with it. The volunteer badges could well be restrikes. Tony

Don't they look smart. You should have seen my wife's face the first time she saw the cavalry on the way to Buckingham Palace. My Grandad used to collect the by-products from the horses for his garden.

Nice medals Laurence, I wished I knew more/anything about them. Aren't India and Pakistan in the Commonwealth any more or have I misunderstood? Or am I just too tired at the moment? Tony

Nice one Leigh.

Gilbert, I've printed off the pamphlet cover and will show it to my Nan when I see her. She doesn't do emails and has enough trouble with the mobile I bought her (can't hear it when it's ringing), so I will have to wait a few weeks but will also phone now and then. Leigh, she still carries a hat pin in her bag. I've just started reading my Bermondsey book and remembered some of my Grandad's stories; he was an ARP and lived off of Jamaica Rd. till being bombed out in September 1940. He was rehoused Between Southwark Park and Peek Frean's (always good for broken biscuits in my morning school break) and used to talk about the fires on the river, wood and rubber floating along burning, uxb's and looking for survivors. This second house was damaged by the last V1 (may have been a V2 as my Mum said it was late 44/early 45) to land on Bermondsey and some bugger looted his tools. The repair/new half a house can still be seen today. Tony

I?ve just called my Nan and asked if she was still in Lewisham at the end of the war, she said yes. So, I asked if she remembered the V2 and she told me; "they were always dropping something or other on us and blowing thing down, or do you mean the one at Deptford?" Yes, that?s the one I said. "Bloody annoying that was but as I said, they were always dropping something and I couldn?t get a place away from Lewisham till after the war." She then told me they didn't use a shelter but went to the house opposite instead. I'll get her to tell me some tales when I'm there in February, I think she might be able to tell you a few stories too Gilbert. The devastation caused by that V2 must have been quite different from the V1s for her to remember it like that. Tony

This is more than interesting. The last time I saw my Nan she was telling me that once when she lived down Thurston Rd., she had to go out, and left someone looking after my Dad. This person didn?t do their job as my Dad escaped from his cot, filled his nappy a few time and then played with the mess. My Nan wasn?t home more than 30 minutes doing some washing and scrubbing when an incendiary landed in the garden, blowing out the windows in the room she was living in. She had to move in with the family downstairs after that as it was too cold without windows. Obviously cleaning up was more important than nipping to the shelter. Leigh, I grew up in Rotherhithe and Bermondsey and used to live down Rotherhithe New Road; small world. The railway bridge down Ilderton Rd. was full of holes when I was little, said to have been done by German machine guns. At the danger of hijacking your thread Gilbert, I?ve attached a paragraph from a book I have called Bermondsey in War 1939 - 1945. I still haven?t read it but it does mention 38 V1s falling on Bermondsey; with Lewisham only just down the road, it may give some idea of how many landed there too. Tony

I like that Leigh. Hope you're standing to attention while looking at this Mr. Boonzaier

Here's a No. 4 plate flanked by a couple of No. 2 plates. I wonder if there was a No.3

Ken, How did you find that? I have his name and couldn't even read it. He's looking ok for a 40 year old back then. Thanks for finding him. Tony

Perhaps they've just started basic training.

Yeah but I bet you always got away with that in the legion.

You are better off buying an American one and pretending it's Brit. Most won't be able to tell the difference, they are easier to find and cost a fraction of the price.

I really enjoyed it and am surprised that Tom wasn't killed or didn't die as a POW. It only costs a few quid so go out and buy it, it's written by the soldier's grandson. I do have a special interest in the book though, as I have the diary of Sid Dore (he always gets a mention when talking about the Somme) who was killed while advancing to the German lines at Gommecourt on 1.7.16 although in a different unit to Tommy Higgins in the book.

I have a copy.

Maybe the original owner was left handed and had the hook replaced/turned when he bought it? Tony

Thanks for showing them Jef.

Thanks for the replies. Don't suppose I'll ever find out if these were given out at the soup kitchen as a commemoration for those who couldn't work anymore, or just a regional/town commemoration piece. It actually appears to be made of genuine imitation gold Cheers Tony

I?ve had this French medallion/coin for a good few years now and have never found out what it was for. Does anyone have any ideas, for POWs, civilians who lived in occupied France, some kind of peace medal or just a commemorative thing? The reverse is blank by the way. Tony

This might be of interest http://www.cwgc.co.uk/Plaque-history.htm