Spring project for FOTG members - Can you help us find our lost air raid shelter?
In late 1939, a public air raid shelter was built under Twickenham Green.
“(by 3rd September 1939)… At The Green there would soon be a shelter for 620…”
When The Bombs Fell, by Paul Barnfield
We have a copy of the Borough of Twickenham A.R.P. map, (Courtesy Richmond Local Studies Collection) that seems to suggest two possible sites on The Green, plus an ARP post. However, the scale of the map makes it difficult to see clearly where the shelter or shelters might have been.
As far as we know the structure still lies beneath The Green, but we do not know where.
- Do you or any of your family have a memory of the shelter?
- Does anyone have a record of where exactly it was located?
- Are there any photos of the entrance that would have been on the surface?
- Are the council, museum or the library holding any records of the shelter?
- At times of the year when The Green is particularly dry, has anyone seen any evidence (e.g. Drone or Google Earth footage) of the structure?
If you have any clues to pass on, please let us know. A prize to be awarded to the person who gives us a definitive answer, to our long unsolved mystery.
Contact details: email us at friends@fotg.uk
Howard Roberts, Environment Officer, THE FRIENDS OF TWICKENHAM GREEN