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To Simonj and Sheilawragg1 re Bombs dropped on Sheffield, good afternoon, yes there is still life out there so hold your breath, even though it is over five years since I posted on the Sheffield Forum site, I received your request to reply but unfortunately I had to reregister, not quite sure what information you are after so if you wish to come back to me and we will try and take it from there and I will reply as soon as possible.

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Hello ----- This is a question I have been trying to find out about for ages I live in Chapeltown but work of Carlisle street Grimesthorpe -- originally I worked for Newton Chambers in Chapeltown in their print unit and I came across aerial photos in the records of N.C. of the site that the Germans took in 1940 they show the tank factory and other main targets Smithy Wood etc clearly marked with N.S.E.W. and distances to Sheffield and the coast -- now as far as I know talking to the old salts that were there at the time, this is 1968 when steam still ran through Thorncliffe, no bombs were ever dropped on Thorncliffe it's self they could not find the tank factory at night because smoke generators were used to camouflage it and day time bombing was to risky but in 1941 a land mine was dropped on Warren Lane now I know this is true because my mother in law who still lives in Smith Street remembers it the blast from it rattled and blew out windows in Smith Street nothing much else happened on Thorncliffe from what I could find out at the time this was when nobody really wanted to talk about the war not ever my own father but there was a lot of evidence of it on Thorncliffe if you know were to look the air raid shelters the concrete mounts for what I was told were for guns the test track for Churchill tanks and the under ground hospital, yes a Hospital, now I do know this also is true because I went in it when it was still used twice a week for check up's on N.C. staff in the 60's it was, and still is but you cannot see it any more, situated across from and up a bit from the entrance to the Ronseal works on the left hand side in the banking they could not demolish it the doors were double blast proof two foot thick in side there were offices a small ward operating theater and some other bit's the banking was re-land scapped to cover it up. There were also air raid shelters near what was Thorncliffe row, now gone, at the back of the White House offices, posh one's for senior management and not so posh for the rest, if the people who live in the new house's only knew what there house's were built on nothing wrong but the history that's on that land.

Going back to Grimesthorpe about year or so ago there was new building work going on of Carlisle street behind the petrol station and it all came to a halt when artillery rounds were found these round's were fired from the guns mounted on the banking high up of Upwell Street, the mounting's are still there, they could fire on air craft coming down the valley after the steel works which are now Meadow Hall and the marshalling yards at Grimesthorpe.

If any one can tell me were I can find maps evidence of bombing etc around Grimesthorpe I would like to know -- reply's welcome

 

Hi I do have a copy of the Luftwaffe aerial photo of the Newton Chambers factory , apparently these were presented to staff at the end of the war.

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Did 'Doodle-bugs' (V2-Bombs) actually get as far as south Yorkshire , as they had to be fired from mainland Europe ?

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Did 'Doodle-bugs' (V2-Bombs) actually get as far as south Yorkshire , as they had to be fired from mainland Europe ?

 

Doodle-bugs were the V1, and I believe that the ones that hit Sheffield were air launched from modified Heinkel He 111s over the North Sea.

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To Simonj and Sheilawragg1 re Bombs dropped on Sheffield, good afternoon, yes there is still life out there so hold your breath, even though it is over five years since I posted on the Sheffield Forum site, I received your request to reply but unfortunately I had to reregister, not quite sure what information you are after so if you wish to come back to me and we will try and take it from there and I will reply as soon as possible.

 

Wow :wow:

 

Welcome back, it's not often someone re-appears like this :cool:

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They have a map with the location of every bomb dropped, upstairs in the central library.

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Yes it’s only since I retired that I have had more interest in this kind of thing, you first post asks about two service men who were killed in an air raid on Thorncliffe, I worked on Thorncliffe in their Printing in plant from 1969/75 there were many bits of archive info as we printed the Thorncliffe news, Chapeltown had three stations I remember the top station, as we called it or Chapeltown Central Station the one near the Asda car park is still there and it was closed and moved down the line a bit closer to the centre of Chapeltown and the Asda, the Asda car park was the marshalling area for Newton Chambers and you use to be able to see the branch line that ran from the other side of the bridge up to Thorncliffe, a branch line also ran from the top of Thorncliffe to join the main line to the Blackburn Valley line this is where most of the Churchill Tanks were dispatched it was closed in 1953. As I said before I don’t recall seeing any mention of any one being killed in an air raid as Thorncliffe was in a valley and smoke generators were used to cover the area but that does not mean it did not happen, there is a tremendous amount of history about Newton Chambers and Thorncliffe that people don’t realise possibly the Chapeltown and High Green Archive Group or Sheffield Library may know about what your looking for, did you know that Newton Chambers was one of the first company’s in the UK to have a computer for pay rolling it was huge it filled one room in a building close to the White House it had two foot wide reels of magnetic tape to store the information and printed off punched ticker tape for reference other companies in the area would book time on it to do their pay rolls including Trent Regional Health Authority based in Fulwood Sheffield, a computer from PC world would most likely do that all now. If I can help in any other way let me know. :)

Edited by MEC176

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I lived on Ecclesall road and we used to play on bomb sites 2 on william st 1 on Hanover st and where Atkinsons is now

 

hiya i wouldn't say that where atkinsons is now was anywhere near william st and hanover st as the area you say was a magnet for kids it was a big pool of water only 2 or 3 ins deep,we used to go round what we called waste papering and take it to marsdens on button lane just a thought at that time the late 40s there was a lot of pearl shell around and wondered if a button factory was around there,

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yes, doodle bugs did reach Sheffield (,V2s were different weapon being rocket propelled) as opposed the doodle bugs which engine. I used to lie in bed and hear them fly over. It was if the engine noise stopped when you had to worry.

A doodle bug came down at Halfway not far from school I don't rember the date

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Didnt a bomb go through the bridge on the wicker, im sure someone told me it did? you can see different bricks in sort of a circular shape if you look up?

 

Yes my father pointed that out to me while walking down there around 1958. The repairs are indeed a different colour to the rest of the arch. My dad also pointed out the scars from aircraft bullets that were fired at the bridge that can still be seen. That would be the Spital Hill side (not Saville Street) of the bridge and every time I used to walk down there-I lived in Pitsmoor- I used to look up in awe. The bomb actually penetrated the railway track bed and the roof of the arches, which are not built of 'crap stuff' and didn't explode !

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My grandparents and their neighbors used to hide in their cellar at owler lane during the bombing. I still have the old dartboard they used use down there in those dark days. Since 1978 I have lived in Norwich and they had about 50 raids

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I recall the facade of the City Hall got blasted from bombs and it was a long time before they patched up the holes!

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