As part of VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations, local historian Davis Watson will give a talk about the impact World War Two had on Wanstead
Eighty years ago this month, Wanstead joined the rest of the country in celebrating VE Day. Amid the jubilation, Wanstead could also reflect on a trying time that had seen residents pushed to their limits.
By the time war had been declared in September 1939, Wanstead, like many other towns across the nation, had been preparing in case of conflict. The Borough of Wanstead and Woodford had founded a local Civil Defence Service in March 1936 and when war was announced, 43 wardens’ posts, spread across six districts, were quickly confirmed.
Locations of posts in Wanstead included the entrance to Wanstead Golf Club, the grounds of the Weavers’ Almshouses and Nutter Lane, opposite the junction with Buckingham Road. Other well-known local sites utilised during the war included Wanstead High School for use as a field kitchen, Christ Church Green as a home for a temporary shelter and Hermon Hill Methodist Church hall as a rest centre to provide accommodation for bombed-out families.
Wardens dashed between these sites night after night as reports of bombings and fires were reported to the posts. One of their most memorable call-outs occurred in August 1940 when a British plane crashed in Hereford Road, bouncing off two houses before landing in the road and sending stray bullets through nearby walls; the pilot having baled out successfully, the sole injury was sustained by a dog.
A week later saw the commencement of the Blitz and Wanstead suffered heavily on the first night, chiefly around the Nightingale Lane junction of the High Street. Roughly 500 incendiaries fell in that area alone, which destroyed several buildings, including two houses on Grove Road (since renamed Grosvenor Road) and a block of flats at the newly built Shrubbery. Several properties on the High Street itself were also badly damaged.
In the meantime, other important measures were seen to; guardrails were installed at Eagle Pond to prevent pedestrians falling in during blackouts, a siren was installed at Wanstead Police Station to signal the start of a raid and the all-clear, and Reverend Godwin Birchenough, rector of the parish, reluctantly cancelled Wednesday evening services as they were frequently interrupted by raids.
In the midst of such action on home soil, countless local residents also received news of the death of loved ones on active service. Wanstead residents to die serving their country included pilot Arthur Lowthian Barge of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, who, in April 1943, crashed his plane into a tree in Wiltshire. Barge’s father, also named Arthur, was a local councillor who played a huge role in civil defence in the borough throughout the war, at one point serving as chief warden. A fellow military casualty was Battle of Britain pilot David Edward Lloyd, who passed away in March 1942 when he collided with a Polish plane over Hayes. Both Barge and Lloyd, among many other Second World War military casualties, are buried in the graveyard at St Mary’s, Wanstead.
- Wanstead High Street.
- Rescue workers rest after a bombing on Lake House Road on 19 March 1941.
- The Shrubberies following bombing in the early hours of 8 September 1940.
- Lake House Road following a bombing on 19 March 1941.
- The Hermitage, Snaresbrook Road, bombed in October 1940.
- Snaresbrook Road.
- 12–14 Hereford Road after a British plane crashed in the street on 31 August 1940.
- Evergreen House on Wanstead High Street following a bombing on 7 September 1940.
A talk entitled Wanstead at War will take place at Christ Church on 5 May from 3pm (free; no booking required). For more information on other local VE Day anniversary events, visit wnstd.com/ve80
