Bomb Shelters On Figge's Marsh In Ww2
A Memory of Mitcham.
I posted this memory once before, but am repeating with the hope that new members will see it and perhaps respond.
In 1944, when I was six, bombs dropped at the end of our road in N. Mitcham (Caithness Road) rendering our home, and others, uninhabitable, and after spending one night at Woodland Way Community Hall we were transferred to the underground shelters on Figge's Marsh. I believe there were three in a row, access by several steps down to the door. As far as I recall, there were bunks three high on either side of a center aisle. I can still see the looks of despair on the faces of some of the traumatized adults, and can smell the stuffy earthy smell around us. Many of us in those shelters were evacuated to Sheffield a few days later. For several years after the end of the war the shelters remained in place, visible by the domed tops above the surface of the ground, and the grass which had been put on top of them to make them less obvious to enemy planes during the war. The shelters would not have been much protection from bombs which might have fallen nearby, but they at least provided shelter from the elements. Does anyone else remember these shelters? I have searched online in vain for mention of them. Does anyone know when they were dismantled?
Add your comment
You must be signed-in to your Frith account to post a comment.
Add to Album
You must be signed in to save to an album
Sign inSparked a Memory for you?
If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?
Comments & Feedback
I lived in Island Road and after the war walked to Gorringe Park County Secondary School via Figges Marsh.
The shelters were certainly around while I was at the school from 1950? to 1954 as I remember going down into one of them. If I am correct, the doors had been brocken down and several of us looked down there, but without a torch could not see much. As to flying bombs, one flew over our house and landed in Fleming mead with severe damage to several house's which later we used to play in the ruins.
It would be nice to see photo's of the shelters if anyone took any?
I'm delighted to hear from you -- thanks for your input. That, in addition to Frank's comment over a year ago, makes at least three of us who share memory of the underground wartime shelters on Figge's Marsh! Interestingly, your mention of going down into one of the shelters stirred a very vague memory of my own, which I'd forgotten until now. I think that a few years after the war I too looked down through the doorless entrance of one of them and saw a mess of some sort. The memory is very vague, but I think it did happen and I'm grateful to you for jogging my memory. My memories of actually taking refuge there for a couple of nights, sleeping on some kind of bunk beds with scratchy army blankets, surrounded by grim-looking stressed-out grownups are much clearer. My brother has a distinct memory of sleeping on the top bunk with his face only inches away from the "ceiling". Claustrophobia in the making! Both my brothers attended Gorringe Secondary, after their primary years at Links Road.
Your comment about playing in the ruins of bombed houses brought back other memories! Quite a number of houses at the end of our road were destroyed (only a few doors along from our house, which sustained severe damage but was made habitable again later, while we were evacuated in Sheffield). It was years before the destroyed houses were rebuilt, so in the meantime we youngsters made the most of our own "bomb site playground". At the end of the war it became the "bonfire site" where Dads and kids erected an enormous bonfire of scraps of this and that, and where the neighbourhood gathered to sing Vera Lyn songs. My Dad made an impressive "guy", adding bristles from a paintbrush for a mustaches so that it resembled Hitler, and then great ceremony was made of tossing him into the flames while everyone cheered and sang with joy that the war was over and Hitler was done with at last.
While we were waiting at Mitcham Station for a train to take us into London on our way to Sheffield, a flying bomb came out of the clouds right above us, and within a minute or two the engine cut out and we saw it fall -- seemingly over the road where our grandma lived (Lavender Avenue). So my poor mother had to travel north with us and wait a few more days before she knew whether or not her mother and brother were still alive. What a relief to hear that they were OK!
I hope that you and others will post more Mitcham memories of those times! All the best to you, wherever you are now!
I grew up in this area and can confirm that they were dismantled in the early to mid 1970's. I remember that at the time they were being removed there was a rumour that WW2 ordinance was found and had to be removed by the army, not sure if this was true, but as a child it was fascinating. The shelters were well covered by grass at this time and most kids just used to run up and over them, without necessarily knowing what they were, or their history.
I regularly play with my kids on Figge's Marsh and had no idea about the shelters - where exactly were they? I'd love to know, I can see there were North and South shelters.. Thanks!