Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> Red Alert was originally published in 1982 in paperback form and subse- quently ran to several printings. Interest in the book has continued since the final print ran out and in view of this I decided that rather than repeat the original version it might be a good idea to produce an enlarged account. It seemed a good opportunity to include material omitted previously and to correct a few errors of fact which had crept into the earlier account. As before the book deals in detail with the former metropolitan boroughs of Deptford Greenwich Lewisham and Woolwich but it now also incorporates much of the material from my book ‘Bromley In The Front-Line’ which is now out-of-print. New material relating to Bermondsey and the London Boroughs of Bexley and Croydon has also been added. However this is more limited in scope being confined to certain Blitz events and the raids of 1943-1944. A number of entirely new chapters are included some dealing with air raids while some are devoted to other aspects of the war years. Most chapters have been given new titles in order to allow for the additional material. There are many new photographs as well – most of them previously unpublished while a few pictures and diagrams have been – dropped. The main omission this time is the story of the V2 rockets. A separate detailed account entitled ‘Bolts From The Blue’ was published by me in 1990 and as this is still in print at the time of writing it seems inappropriate to duplicate the material. I have however included some basic information on the subject in the Appendices. It will be seen from these remarks that the present volume represents a thorough revamp of south east London’s war-time story. Like the original material most of what has been added is published for the first time. Some comes from the invaluable recollections of private informants and a great deal derives from official files at the Public Record Office the GLC Archives and elsewhere. ‘Red Alert’ is intended essentially as a factual local history of the war years. It is not a collection of personal ‘bomb stories’. During and imme- diately after the war these could always be guaranteed to empty any saloon bar. The trouble with them from an historical view is that although they convey something of what it was like to be bombed they do not inform us factually of what happened or of when and where it happened. Many present and former residents young and old wish to learn something factual of what occurred in their own neighbourhoods in the long conflict. (LL)