To What Extent Was Life Affected By The Second World War In Croydon?

  Propaganda was used widely at the time throughout the nation. The government took control of the media and made sure they published information that was appropriate. This however makes sources like newspapers very unreliable because they would not be telling the truth on occasions, as the government would have been forcing them to censor certain articles if they contain negative press so not to demoralise the pubic. So when looking at sources like these one must be very careful.  During the phoney war the mayor of Croydon didn’t want the civilians to panic so he sent out leaflets to give advice to civilians. On one such leaflet he tells civilians to keep morale high and not to listen to rumours. This leaflet was put into the Croydon Times on Saturday 20th July 1940. The source is very reliable as it is written by the Mayor himself at the time and would give accurate pictures of what the authorities felt like.

  Croydon was a major town for the war effort at that time, one of the main reasons being the huge airport situated there at that time. Croydon aerodrome became the gathering point for RAF machines, supplies, and men, who were to be flown to the continent as part of the air contingent of the British Expeditionary force. Croydon also welcomed the introduction of a new fighter plane The Hurricane. “An Aircraft superior and faster then any other in the world at that time”. This meant there was a lot of pressure on Croydon airport and the successful running of it was vital to the war effort. It was a very harsh winter at the beginning of 1940 in Croydon and flying was constantly interrupted by fog or snow. As a direct cause of poor visibility many aeroplanes were stuck in the air lost and had to wait anxious periods of time before they could be given instructions to land. The blackout didn’t help the pilots as they found it very difficult to see the landscape. A major accident was inevitable one of these days and sure enough it soon happened. On the 25th February 1940 a Blenheim took of at Croydon airport, the pilot, Pilot Officer Reginald Jervelund Whitmarsh a twenty year old. For some reason probably due to poor visibility he went to a low altitude and crashed onto the houses of the nearby street to the airport Foresters Drive. The occupant of the house Mrs Bridge and her daughter Jill who had not been evacuated were killed. 8 other people were injured in the incident. This was the first causality from the war effort in Croydon and it was ironic that it had nothing to do with the Germans. The whole country was devastated and it sparked of a major inquest. “There was a lack of proper lighting arrangements on the night in question and night flying in Croydon should be organised” was the conclusion of a court inquest done at the time. The sources, which I have used in writing this paragraph, are found in the books Surrey at war by Bob Olgey and Croydon Airport and the battle for Britain by Douglas Cluett. The books were published well after the war was finished and so the authors would have had more access to more information and archives as they would have been published well after the war as the government would of wanted to keep a lot of the information hushed up during the war. The writers also have hindsight, which is a major advantage, and there is no need to be bias or contain any inaccurate figures because the war is well finished and so morale doesn’t have to be high. I can conclude using these facts that the sources are very accurate and contain a great deal of truth.

  On the 15th August the first bombs were dropped on Croydon on houses and factories on the Waddon estate around the airport. This day was known as Black Thursday. Croydon always knew it would be a big target for any bombs because of the airport but however there was no alert because the group of aeroplanes, which bombed Croydon, veered of the main group, which was heading for the centre of London. A newspaper report written at the time quotes 62 people dead and 172 injured. This was probably biased as the government wanted to keep high morale and didn’t want to show that too many people had been injured. In reality 62 people died and 176 injured. This source is from the book Croydon in the 40’s and 50’s. This would have been more accurate as there would be no need to publish any inaccurate figures as the war was over at this time.

  The council got prepared for the bombing raids as gas masks and shelters were provided. In an article from the local newspaper it states that 3000 ARP Wardens were put into place and they were costing the council £8,700 every week. This source may be a bit unreliable as it is from a newspaper, which was censored. The figure could have been much less but the council wanted to show that the town was well prepared for any attack. Propaganda like this was constantly being poured out to raise morale in the town as the council did not want the local residents to be frightened and panic. Newspaper pictures always showed people cleaning up after an attack and never anyone dying or wrecked houses.

  As Croydon did not have a local tube station, Anderson shelters were vital to everyone. Nearly everyone had one in their back garden. They were very uncomfortable to spend the nights in. In the lifetimes exhibition in the Croydon Clock tower it is said that during the war the average Londoner got only 4 hours of sleep every day. This must have been very uncomfortable for every one.

  On the 15th June 1944 the Germans introduced to Croydon a new even more terrifying weapon, the V1 bomb also known as the flying bomb. These bombs flew without a pilot. When it stopped it engine cut of and it fell down. Many people who were at the war can still nowadays remember the noise of the engine stopping and can still remember the damage the bombs cause. This bomb could reach parts of Southern England.” If you were to look 300 to 500 yards down most roads and every single house was damaged”, these were from the memoirs of Bob Dowie. He was there at the time so would have had first hand experience of the event, however he wrote the memoirs well after the event so you may question his memory. This was followed by a three-month attack in which 141 bombs were dropped on Croydon. This was the report in the lifetime’s museum, which would have been accurate because it had hindsight and would have no need to be biased. However a newspaper article written at the time states that 161 flying bombs fell. This is another piece of evidence to show that newspaper sources written at the time were unreliable. However another newspaper article written after the war finished so there would be no need to be bias, was revealed that 211 people were killed as a direct result of the flying bomb, it also labelled Croydon as the worst hit borough in London.

  The war finally ended in 1945 and Croydon along with all the other towns and cities celebrated. A survey done by the Surrey County Council to find the exact number of deaths. This source of evidence in my opinion would be very reliable as the report was done well after the war finished and there would be no need to be bias or to lie.

Here below are the results:

  From all this evidence you can probably figure out that life was dramatically affected in Croydon with the arrival of the war. Men and Women were recruited to help with the war effort and children were evacuated. The presence of the airport meant that Croydon would be heavily bombed. It was labelled the “worst hit borough in London” which may be confusing because it considered both in London and Surrey. Anyway the airport meant bombs and this meant for the people of Croydon nights in the uncomfortable Anderson Shelters. Yes indeed life was extensively affected to the average Croydon person because of the war.