This is a snap I found taken ca 1940. Grandfather had written on the back "The beehinve shelter at Dalbrack, Stanmore.
It was apparently a special air raid shelter in "Dalbrack" in Gordon Avenue, Stanmore, Middlesex, London, England which appears was the premises of The London and Colonial Bank Limited of which grandfather, Percy Rockliff, was a secretary. He sent the photo to my mum many years ago (probably in the 1940s). P.R. (as he was always known) actually lived at 7 Devonshire Place, Eastbourne in Sussex. The shelter was built to house important documents to keep them safe in case of air raids. I have found a list of 5 other persons also involved in this particular enterprise. Seems I'll have to do some more 'digging' to find out exactly what it was all about.
There is a lot of interesting information about P.R. to be found on the internet. His name appears in Who's Who. I may try and find out some more information and do a post on this man whom I never met. When I was a child he used to send me an English pound every Christmas and I so enjoyed going into the big Commonwealth Bank in Perth where I would go up to the foreign exchange counter and usually receive about twenty five shillings Australian. The exchange rate these days rather works the other way....my, how things have changed.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteOh this one is intriguing... one wonders just how it would stand up to the V2 and other such blighters... and it would be great to read more about PC! YAM xx
Unfortunately I don't know the actual way in which these shelters were constructed but may try and find out as a matter of interest.
DeleteI will try and find more information about PR. He was certainly quite the gentleman and known in high up places.
Thanks for your interest and your comments. xx
I like pictures that send you digging for facts.
ReplyDeleteMe too and one can spend so much time doing that digging that you find the day has sped by which for me is good as it gives me less chance to think about aches and pains.
DeleteBeehive shelters are something I've never heard of before, so this is interesting. I never gave much thought to storage of important paperwork until I was married and keeping track of the household spending etc. Paperwork from the government of the time never crossed my mind, but of course they would have needed safe storage.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can make out these shelters were spread throughout the UK storing important documents and information. How well they would have stood up to a direct hit I have no idea and hopefully not many important records were lost.
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