Dupont Road, Raynes Park: Bomb Damage
| Partial / Incomplete Date | c.1940 |
|---|---|
| Area | Raynes Park |
| Picture Reference | MerMor_5_1-6 |
| Original Format | Photo |
| Notes / History | These houses in Dupont Road, Raynes Park suffered a direct hit from a high explosive bomb dropped by the Germans days after the defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. On 25th February 2020 Joan Toomer wrote: ‘Regarding this photo of Dupont Road, my grandparents, Richard Bloor Watters and Evelyn Louisa Watters were living at 15 Dupont Road at the time of the bombing raid which destroyed a number of houses in the road. This took place on 17 September 1940. As far as we can tell the picture shows the wreckage of numbers 13, 15 and 17 although they were not the only houses damaged or destroyed. My grandmother survived but my grandfather was killed along with a number of his neighbours.’ This attack took place in the very early days of the Blitz, which began on 7th September 1940. It was too early to appear on the map drawn up by The Bomb Sight Project, which shows all the bombs that the Luftwaffe dropped on London between 7/10/1940 and 06/06/1941 (bombsight.org). However, this map – taken from the original bomb census maps at the National Archives – gives a clear indication of the damage inflicted during this period. No less than 36 high explosive bombs fell on Raynes Park during this nine month assault and a total of 692 high explosive bombs and 6 parachute mines fell throughout the Borough. |
