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Bath Blitz Memorial Project
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Personal Memories

Some visitors to this site will have lived through the Bath Blitz and will have their own memories.

But many visitors to this site will have been born since the war ended, and can only understand the blitz through historical records and the memories of others. This section provides the memories that have been offered to the Project to preserve them and to inform others, or have been told to somebody who wrote them down.  To everybody who has provided memories to share them with others: a huge thank-you.

The Project would appreciate similar stories from site visitors, or any details of what relatives or friends have remembered. Please see the Memories Book section to see how to provide them.  One limitation of the Memories Book is that it cannot include pictures or illustrations. I may on occasions move text from the Memories Book to its own page in order to add pictures or illustrations to them.

It is not easy to put memories into categories that will suit everybody who wants to read them.  In the sub-menus at the top of this page, I have put personal memories into groups according to age at the time, and have added a section for information provided by relatives rather than the people themselves, and an archives section for stories passed on by other written records.  Then, in the list below, I have provided links according to the role (for want of a better word) that the person had. Either route leads to the same stories.

 

I Remember...
Ashley Avenue
Bladud Buildings
Brook Road
Burlington Place
Cross Lane
Evelyn Road
Hayes Place
Highbury Place
Hungerford Road
Kingsmead Street
Kingsmead Street
Kingsmead Terrace
Lansdown Road
Lansdown View New
Norfolk Buildings
Odd Down
Park Street
Poets Corner
Prior Park
South Parade
Richmond Place
Roseberry Road
Roundhill Grove
Roundhill Park
Royal Crescent
Second Avenue
Stanley Road
Stuart Place
Stuart Place
The Close
Waterloo Buildings

What was it like to be a resident in Bath at the time?
Read one young girl's memories of Ashley Avenue,
...and one man's boyhood memories of Bladud Buildings,
...and one man's boyhood memories of Brook Road,
...and a young woman's memories of Burlington Place,
...and a teenager's memories of Cross Lane,
...and a young boy's memories of Evelyn Road,
...and a young boy's memories of Hayes Place,
...and a young girl's memories of Highbury Place,
...and a teenage girl's memories of Hungerford Road,
...and a teenager's memories of Kingsmead Street and Newbridge Road,
...and a family bombed out of Kingsmead Street,
...and one man's story about Kingsmead Terrace,
...and a doctor's story about the Lansdown Road area,
...and a young boy's memories of his home in Lansdown View,
...and a young girl's memories of Odd Down,
...and a young girl's memories of Park Street,
...and a young boy's memories of the streets around Chaucer Road,
...and a young boy's amazing find in Prior Park,
...and a young priest's memories of St John's Church,
...and a young boy's memories of his home in Richmond Place,
...and another lady's memories of Roseberry Road and Batheaston,
...and a girl's memories of Roundhill Grove and Manvers Street,
...and a girl's memories of her home in Roundhill ParkNew
...and a young girl's memories of her home in Royal Crescent,
...and one lady's story of Second Avenue,
...and a young girl's memories of her home in Stanley Road,
...and a young girl's memories of her home in Stuart Place
...and a teenager's wartime memories of Stuart Place
...and a young boy's memories of Twerton.
...and a young boy's memories of Waterloo Buildings.

I Remember...
Being in a Civil Defence Rescue Squad

What was it like to be in a rescue squad in Bath at the time?
Read one man's story about his experiences, as reported in the Bath Chronicle in their "Memories" series.

I Remember...
Being in the Rescue Squad sent to St John's Church

Not all rescue squads were Bath based.
Read the story of Swindon's Number 6 Rescue Squad, sent to Bath to help after the third attack.

I Remember...
Being in the Home Guard in Bath

What was it like to be in the Home Guard in Bath at the time?
Read Rex Hobbs's story about his experiences, provided by e-mail.

I Remember...
Being a Civil Defence Messenger


Rocky was on duty during the bombing and had some narrow escapes.

I Remember...
Being in the National Fire Service in Bath

What was it like to be in the National Fire Service in Bath at the time?
Read William Peschel's story about his experiences.
William was lucky enough to survive the war, unlike Leonard Smith, another firefighter who lost his life.

I Remember...
Being a serving soldier on leave

What was it like when the war comes to you on your day off?
Read Wally Trout's story about his experiences.

I Remember...
Being in the Bath Resistance
and The Blitz Weekend

The existence of the Auxiliary Units was one of the best kept secrets of the war.  Read Bob's experiences of his time as part of Churchill's resistance movement, set up just in case Britain was invaded. 
More recently, Bob has sent his memories of the Blitz Weekend which shows how Auxiliary Units were deployed in a crisis. 

I Remember...
The memories my wife told me

Harry recalls what his wife Eileen told him of her experiences. Read what happened to Eileen and her family.
Eileen survived the blitz, married and raised a family, but died before the Bath Blitz Memorial Project started collecting memories.

I Remember...
The only fireman killed on active service during the blitz

Doreen recalls her father, Leonard Smith
Read what happened to him, and his family.

I Remember...
The horrors in Oldfield Park

Ruth's own home was bombed, but she needed to find out if her relatives were safe.
Read what happened to her, and what she saw on her difficult journey through the bombed streets.

I Remember...
The lighter side of life

Joan was a civil servant, transferred to Bath with The Admiralty in 1939.
Read her memories of the more amusing side of wartime life.

I Remember...
Many things

Frank originally added his memories to the Memories Book.
I have given them a full page in order to add illustrations.

I was a visitor to Bath
and remember...
Bennett Street
Midland Road & Sion Hill

What was it like to be in Bath at the time?
(Many thanks for these stories, provided by e-mail)
A young girl stays with her aunt...(Linda's story)
...and an evacuee's experience...(Irene's story)

We would appreciate similar stories from site visitors, or any details of what relatives or friends have remembered. Please use the link at the top of this page for this purpose.

I Remember Places...
St Bartholomew's Church

St Bartholomew's was doubly unlucky when one bomb struck the main church in King Edward Road, and another destroyed its Church Hall in Junction Road. Read about the origins of the two buildings and the story of reconstruction after the war, collated from the notes of a member of the church.

 

I Remember...
Bombing Bath

Willi Schludecker was a Luftwaffe bomber pilot, who took part in two of the three raids on Bath. On 25th April 2008, he visited Bath to apologise, and told his story.

 


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