Friday 10 September 2010

10/11 September 1940: The London Underground on this day 70 years ago

Fourth day/night of the London Blitz.
"From dark until dawn LONDON was again the main objective but the attacks were less severe than on the preceding nights. As regards railways repeated attacks were continued, although less numerous than on previous nights, nevertheless the damage sustained has certainly affected railway transport."[1]
An unexploded bomb was reported between Kings Cross and Farringdon Street stations on the Metropolitan line.[2]

The large area of docks on the Isle of Dogs was heavily targeted on the,[3] but bombs were also dropped on the similar but smaller facilities south of the river. Between Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks (now Surrey Quays) stations on the East London line, a 50kg High Explosive bomb breached the 15¾ feet (4.8 metres) of ground at the north-east corner of Canada Dock (now Canada Water), just to the south of the position of the current Canada Water station, and exploded in the running tunnel. Traffic was suspended until 11 October. The contemporary plan below shows the point of impact of the bomb, designated "A12" ("A13" was a second hit in almost the same location eight months later).[4][5]


[1] Ministry of Home Security, Key Points Intelligence Directorate: Reports and Papers, Daily Reports - September 1940: Damage Appreciation 10-11/09/40, page 1 [Kew: National Archives, reference HO 201/2]
[2] Ministry of Home Security, Key Points Intelligence Directorate: Reports and Papers, Daily Reports - September 1940: Damage Appreciation 10-11/09/40, page 2 [Kew: National Archives, reference HO 201/2]
[3] Ministry of Home Security, Key Points Intelligence Directorate: Reports and Papers, Daily Reports - September 1940: Damage Appreciation 10-11/09/40, page 3 [Kew: National Archives, reference HO 201/2]
[4] Ministry of Home Security, Research and Experiments Department: Registered Papers: Damage to underground railways, drawing 22H [Kew: National Archives, reference HO 192/8]
[5] Ministry of Home Security, Air Raid Precautions (ARP GEN) Registered files: AIR RAIDS, Incident Reports, Tube incidents statistics [Kew: National Archives, reference HO 186/2419]


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