Tooting common anti aircraft guns
Discussion
Dunno about that but I spent a large part of my childhood playing in the the anti aircraft bunkers in and around Beckton and the old gasworks.
eta "It has been claimed that on some occasions the barrage above London was so intense that as many civilians were killed and injured by shrapnel and unexploded shells as by enemy action. A survey was carried out after one raid and it was discovered that six people were killed by shell splinters; four wounded by a shell in Enfield; a sailor severely injured by a shell splinter in Gipsy Hill; two civilians killed by another shell elsewhere; one man killed and two injured by a shell which hit a wall in Battersea; and two more killed in Tooting."
James Hayward, Myths & Legends of the Second World War (2003) page 99
eta "It has been claimed that on some occasions the barrage above London was so intense that as many civilians were killed and injured by shrapnel and unexploded shells as by enemy action. A survey was carried out after one raid and it was discovered that six people were killed by shell splinters; four wounded by a shell in Enfield; a sailor severely injured by a shell splinter in Gipsy Hill; two civilians killed by another shell elsewhere; one man killed and two injured by a shell which hit a wall in Battersea; and two more killed in Tooting."
James Hayward, Myths & Legends of the Second World War (2003) page 99
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 14th August 20:25
The purpose of high concentrations of anti aircraft fire was to drive the Bombers off course to prevent them having a level approach to their targets maximum disruption and lastly if they were lucky hit them and bring them down. Hence perceived high value targets had massive amounts of Ack ack around them. Otherwise you’d have stuck all the guns along the coast, but that was the role of interception fighters.
Mr Dendrite said:
The purpose of high concentrations of anti aircraft fire was to drive the Bombers off course to prevent them having a level approach to their targets maximum disruption and lastly if they were lucky hit them and bring them down. Hence perceived high value targets had massive amounts of Ack ack around them. Otherwise you’d have stuck all the guns along the coast, but that was the role of interception fighters.
Thx, makes sense, elderly relative was talking about rocket launchers too. 
Mr Dendrite said:
Otherwise you’d have stuck all the guns along the coast, but that was the role of interception fighters.
Off topic for this thread but I believe they did move AA guns to the coast when the V1s started coming over.Slightly more relevantly the Austin commercials used as ARP vans/auxiliary fire engines had reinforced roofs to protect the crews from shrapnel and some vital signal boxes did too. Clapham Junction 'A' was on a gantry that spanned all the tracks and was fine until they stuck an armoured roof over the top of it without any extra support for the additional weight. One busy day in the '60s the gantry decided it had had enough (the armour was still there).
Nothing moved between Clapham and Waterloo for several days IIRC while they propped it up.
The armour went soonish and the signalbox followed some years later.
PositronicRay said:
Mr Dendrite said:
The purpose of high concentrations of anti aircraft fire was to drive the Bombers off course to prevent them having a level approach to their targets maximum disruption and lastly if they were lucky hit them and bring them down. Hence perceived high value targets had massive amounts of Ack ack around them. Otherwise you’d have stuck all the guns along the coast, but that was the role of interception fighters.
Thx, makes sense, elderly relative was talking about rocket launchers too. Bit of blurb what they are ... http://www.hjbrownhistorian.co.uk/The%20Anti%20Air...
And from somewhere else “[Tooting Common] also had an important role during the Second World War when anti-aircraft guns were sited there along with barrage balloons, bomb shelters and 75 prefabricated houses to rehouse Blitz victims. It was also the site of a prisoner of war camp.“
bigandclever said:
PositronicRay said:
Mr Dendrite said:
The purpose of high concentrations of anti aircraft fire was to drive the Bombers off course to prevent them having a level approach to their targets maximum disruption and lastly if they were lucky hit them and bring them down. Hence perceived high value targets had massive amounts of Ack ack around them. Otherwise you’d have stuck all the guns along the coast, but that was the role of interception fighters.
Thx, makes sense, elderly relative was talking about rocket launchers too. Bit of blurb what they are ... http://www.hjbrownhistorian.co.uk/The%20Anti%20Air...
And from somewhere else “[Tooting Common] also had an important role during the Second World War when anti-aircraft guns were sited there along with barrage balloons, bomb shelters and 75 prefabricated houses to rehouse Blitz victims. It was also the site of a prisoner of war camp.“
The Bethnal Green incident sounds horrific.
Even if they didn't directly hit the enemy aircraft they were very disruptive.
Shrapnel would penetrate the thin skins of the aircraft often killing and wounding crew members, and doing all sorts of other damage to the aircraft engines, airframe and systems.
The aircraft may get home but in a somewhat beat up state, with dead or seriously injured crew and a bomber that could be grounded for some time for repairs.
Many raids on Britain were night time so it was harder for the gunners to acquire targets, but as the Americans discovered to their huge cost over Europe, daylight raids made them fish in a barrel and easy pickings for axis gunners.
Shrapnel would penetrate the thin skins of the aircraft often killing and wounding crew members, and doing all sorts of other damage to the aircraft engines, airframe and systems.
The aircraft may get home but in a somewhat beat up state, with dead or seriously injured crew and a bomber that could be grounded for some time for repairs.
Many raids on Britain were night time so it was harder for the gunners to acquire targets, but as the Americans discovered to their huge cost over Europe, daylight raids made them fish in a barrel and easy pickings for axis gunners.
Painter38 said:
As you cross Clapham Common on the South Circ you can see the bases for the gun emplacements on Westside.
Probably the same at Tooting.
Near both Clapham Common and Clapham South tube stations you can see big, circular structures, which were built to protect the stairwell shafts to the underground stations. Probably the same at Tooting.
bristolracer said:
Even if they didn't directly hit the enemy aircraft they were very disruptive.
Shrapnel would penetrate the thin skins of the aircraft often killing and wounding crew members, and doing all sorts of other damage to the aircraft engines, airframe and systems.
The aircraft may get home but in a somewhat beat up state, with dead or seriously injured crew and a bomber that could be grounded for some time for repairs.
Many raids on Britain were night time so it was harder for the gunners to acquire targets, but as the Americans discovered to their huge cost over Europe, daylight raids made them fish in a barrel and easy pickings for axis gunners.
And as a positive having them in easy view of the population was a big morale booster. Likewise having them firing even if there weren't aircraft within any sort of realistic range, a whole load of them going off made people think there were more than there actually were. Shrapnel would penetrate the thin skins of the aircraft often killing and wounding crew members, and doing all sorts of other damage to the aircraft engines, airframe and systems.
The aircraft may get home but in a somewhat beat up state, with dead or seriously injured crew and a bomber that could be grounded for some time for repairs.
Many raids on Britain were night time so it was harder for the gunners to acquire targets, but as the Americans discovered to their huge cost over Europe, daylight raids made them fish in a barrel and easy pickings for axis gunners.
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