Forum Topic

WWII Bombs?

Does anyone know if and where any bombs were dropped on Acton during WWll?

Bob Crossley ● 7831d33 Comments

Where’s Colin?  He knows.

Julia Hunt ● 7831d

I am sure Acton must have been heavily bombed during WW2. It used to be quite an industrial area I believe, with the underground/train yeards. I am guessing South Acton and maybe North Acton both got quite heavily bombed, hence everything there is new (post 1950). There are a few places where you can see a street of Victorian houses with a patch of newer properties sandwiched inbetween, which I have always thought was probably due to bomb damage. Of course I may be entirely wrong. Anyone know how much that book, A History of Acton, retials for in the post office at the bottom of Churchfield. I quite fancy a copy!

Chris Blackman ● 7831d

A bomb fell in 1940 at the end of Kent at the juntion with Church Path. The bomb was allegedly a land-mine on a green parachute and one of ours destined for Germany but which had drifted back and hit the burgers of Acton instead!!. All the damaged houses shown here were demolished and replaced with flats. Today, Carver Close is situated roughly where the large, three-storey houses and trees stood in the centre background of the photograph - for which see the Old Times page on the AGRA website: www.actongreen.org.uk

Geoffrey Rippingale ● 7831d

Am i reading this right ?? A bomb that was dropped drifted back to England from abroad and landed in Acton. No that cannot be right.

Charlie Ingram ● 7830d

Agnes Road, junction with the Uxbridge Road opposite Bromyard Avenue. Aiming for the Napier Aero Engine Works. On or around mid 1942. East Acton Lane, pilotless V1 missile 1944. Part of the Pension Building in Bromyard Avenue, fires caused, about the same time as Agnes Road. ME109 machine gunned civilian population in Askew Road 1941. Land Mine in Goldhawk Road 1940, blocking road and diverting 657 trollebus route via Askew Arms Junction. Maybe think of more later.

Colin Vaughan ● 7830d

Thanks for the interesting replies. I have discovered that the library has a book with all the ARP incendary reports in it for Acton. But it is without an index, so will spend a few happy hours there when I get time.Were there any dropped near Essex Road perhaps aimed at the railway, does anyone know?Bob

Bob Crossley ● 7830d

I've just recieved this interesting email from the council.---------------------------------------------------------There certainly were bombs that fell in the vicinity of Essex Road. The blocks of "modern" flats in Horn Lane probably evidence this. The Targets were the Railway Yards just to the North, and the Industrial area of Park Royal.I have a street by street index, however, I seem to have filed it safely and can not find it at the moment. In the Local history section of Ealing library, there is a copy of the street by street index, and copies of the original records, which are in "incident number" order -effectively by date. These records give a full contemporary record of the damage caused. I suggest that you visit the library if you want further information.RegardsDavid

Bob Crossley ● 7830d

I certainly think Chris is right regarding North Acton, several hits were recorded in the indusrial areas there, and I think another area close to the Napier Works in Valleta Road recieved hits. Aldbourne Road, and top of First Avenue also had houses destroyed. I also think some houses recieved a hit from a V2 rocket in 1944, more indescrinate these, in Ealing, in Hanger Lane early 1945.

Colin Vaughan ● 7830d

Fifteen years ago or so I was researching this, and I was taken up to the staff room in Acton library. In the corner was a map mounted in a glass case with each bomb site marked by a flag. It may still be there

Adrian Orchard ● 7829d

There was one stick of bombs that hit the corner of Bollo Bridge Road and Acton lane, where the seventies flats are. The next bomb landed in the middle of what is now the South Acton estate.Bridgman Road took two. Looking West where the the flats on the right are was destroyed during the mini blitz in 1944. The Flats on the left are on the site destroyed by a V1 also in '44.One house, which I won't name, in Petersfield Road took a thousand pounder in the bottom of their Garden. The engineers dug down twenty feet but could not find it. So they filled the hole up again and left. The bomb is presumably still there. This is from the ARP reports in Acton library.

Adrian Orchard ● 7829d

When I was a child, the end of our street (Birkbeck Grove) was a bombsite. A stick of bombs had wrecked some old industrial buildings - there was twisted metal everywhere. Now there are Barrett Homes on the site!John

John Theodore Clark ● 7827d

I wonder which is more of an eyesore...........

Chris Blackman ● 7827d

You might find some answers at an exhibition by the Acton History Group called "Tin Hats, Doodle Bugs and Food Rations - Memories of Acton in World War 2". It's at St Mary's Church Hall on Saturday 7th May from 2pm to 5pm.

Chris Paine ● 7826d

Does this explain why in some roads (mine included) there is often a newer (1940's/50's) property in what is a predominantly Victorian street?  Or was this just a case of spare land between house being built on..

Marek Cezary Mika ● 7826d

Lots of of WW2 bombs in our area, as has been mentioned the industrial estates to the north and in Acton Vale were targets and bombing was not accurate. A former neighbour told stories of AA batteries and Barrage balloons on the Scrubs.Lots of examples of post war bomb site infill. There is a 'probable' one on the west side of Old Oak Rd close to the Uxbridge Rd junction, two 50's? semis in the middle of an Edwardian terrace.Not everything is as it seems, many years ago the Housing Association I worked for then thought a site in Starfield Rd, off Askew, was bomb damage, only when the foundations kept flooding did they check the maps and discover it had never been built on cos it was a natural lake. Credit to the builders, the small block we built is still there.One of the Peabody Blocks, to the east of Wormholt Road was destroyed by a V2For more info, contact the Acton History Society, someone will have done the researchIain

Iain Muir ● 7820d

I have a hand written journal from some boy scouts, that thanked dear adolf for bombing their scout hut. That was near Acton Hill Church, opposite the Redback.

Glenn Young ● 7819d

There'll be wartime memories at St Mary's Church Hall on Saturday 7th May: the Acton History Group are mounting an exhibition entitled 'Tin hats, doodle bugs (sic) and food rations - Memories of Acton in World War 2' there from 2.00-5.00pm

Lorna Dodd ● 7819d

I remember reading a letter to the Gazette which related events on Fletcher Road which was hit by a bomb killing three people.

Brenda OSullivan ● 7818d

Sorry, from someone a little too young to witness it ... what exactly is 'a stick of bombs'? Several bombs landing in close proximity and rapidly one after another, or something else?

Andrew Jones ● 7816d

Its a cluster of, what would now be called'bomblets'dropped from the same aircraft as a group. Very often shrapnell bombs designed to cause maximum civilan injuries.

Colin Vaughan ● 7815d

The definitive history of the war years in Acton (and Ealing and Southall) is contained in a booklet called 'The Dangerous Years' by Dennis Upton published in 1993. Amongst other things it lists every single 'incident' in the three boroughs apart from those where the records have been lost. In Acton there were 163 killed, 290 seriously injured and 546 slightly injured. There were 369 high explosive bombs dropped, 'several' parachute mines, 2 unexploded mines, 21 oil bombs, 7 V1's and unknown thousands of incendiaries. The only V2 exploded in the air above central Ealing, some parts falling on South Ealing and the engine on the Mount Park area. As someone has already mentioned, a V2 destroyed a block of flats on the Cleverley estate in Shepherds Bush killing 29 people.In Acton 512 buildings were completely destroyed and a further 6,882 were damaged to some degree. If anyone is interested in the war years in Acton then this booklet is highly recommended.

Chris Kelly ● 7814d

From where is this booklet available?

Geoffrey Rippingale ● 7814d

I'm not sure where my copy came from, its been in the house for years but I'm sure the library must have a copy or the local history group.

Chris Kelly ● 7814d

Adrian Orchard wrote: "The next bomb landed in the middle of what is now the South Acton estate." Presumably this was the one that struck the junction of Park Road North and Park Road East on 19th May, 1943. There is a contemporary account of that here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/08/a2786808.shtml The third bomb in that stick was probably the one that hit the corner of Heathfield Rd and Avenue Rd, where modern flats now stand (James Welch Court). If you join up those three sites on the map they're in a straight line, the first being at the Acton Lane/Bollo Bridge Rd junction.

Vin Miles ● 5249d

Apparently the houses at the top end of Faraday Road Acton were built in the 50's because of bomb damage to the previous houses which stood there!

Jean F Fernandez ● 5249d

My mum remembers a bomb dropping near North Acton station causing a length of railway line to fly through the air, landing somewhere along Wales Farm Rd!!

Marie Knightley ● 5248d

"There'll be wartime memories at St Mary's Church Hall on Saturday 7th May: the Acton History Group are mounting an exhibition entitled 'Tin hats, doodle bugs (sic) and food rations - Memories of Acton in World War 2' there from 2.00-5.00pm"Pity I can't make it.  Is this a one off or will there be other exhibitions?  Please can you post on this site when they are as it sounds really interesting.

Sarah Harris ● 5248d

Sarah, check the date of that post! Contact the Acton History Soc for details of their meetings.....

Iain Muir ● 5248d

I've only just discovered that google earth has more than the latest image stored - and they have got 1945 aerial pictures of London (and elsewhere)on their site.It may be of interest.

Tim Henderson ● 5247d

This photo shows the after effect of a german bombing of Ealing. John Sanders (now M&S)took a direct hit.

Melanie Walsh ● 5247d

Sarah, and others,There is a book based on the exhibition that was held in St Mary's Church hall by Acton History Group in 2005. It too is called 'Tin hats, doodle bugs and food rations'. Details on the Acton History website - http://www.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/page14.html

Amanda Knights ● 5244d

I know our title deeds were "destroyed by enemy action"!!Not sure if they were stored in Acton when they were destroyed though!

Greg Newman ● 5242d

Another one to add to the South Acton hits on Park Road East, the Mill Hill Park entrance pillar and 1 Heathfield Road W3 - all mis-hits in fact aimed at the railway lines or engineering industry on Acton Vale - and that is: our back garden on the S. side of Heathfield Road where records show a High Explosive bomb (HE) detonated. In the 1980s in fact we had glass "tell-tales" inserted in the property to detect if the bomb had caused ongoing ongoing slip or subsidence. There was no evidence of this; the after-effects hadn't lingered.

Nigel Middlemiss ● 5242d