Re: Floodgates on LU

On 8 Mar, 15:21, "Dick" <rich...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<darkie.travis9...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1173354428.259350.25150@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx





On 8 Mar, 11:22, "Clive D. W. Feather" <c...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
In article <45efd99d$0$8747$ed261...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Dick
<rich...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes

I have a booklet about the activities of Glenfield & Kennedy's
activities
during WW2. One section relates to emergency floodgates on the
underground
which they constructed. The were ordered in the run-up to the war when
it
was realised that Londoner's would use the system as air-raid shelters.

Either the booklet is wrong or you are misreading it.

In the run-up to the war policy was that the Underground would *not* be
part of the shelter system. The floodgates were there for a much simpler
reason: if an under-river tunnel was breached, the authorities didn't
want the entire system made useless.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home: <c...@xxxxxxxxxx>
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: <http://www.davros.org>
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work: <c...@xxxxxxxxx>
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is: <c...@xxxxxxxxxx>

Clive any chance oe a copy? also have read LT at war which staes that
in a passageway at Leicester Sq station was/is the control room.

darkie.travis9260 were you asking Clive or Dick for copy? If me, Dick, then
I could scan and e-mail. As well as write-up there are 6 b&w photos and
coloured sketch showing manufacture, installation and use. Also another
photo in another Glenfield & Kennedy publication.

Re Clive's point above the booklet states:
"London's vast underground railway system, many of the tunnels of which are
60 feet or more below street level, could provide what was wanted. They were
sufficiently deep to be beyond the reach of any bomb, access was available
from the streets at relatively close intervals, and escalators existed at
all principal stations to transport people rapidly to safety.
There was, however, reluctance in informed official circles to countenance
the use of the tube platforms and tunnels as shelters, principally because
of the risk of flooding which existed at certain points, should the large
water mains and sewers of the Metropolis be fractured. There was also the
grave risk of breaching of the tunnels which carry the various lines under
the River Thames.
Official opinion admitted ultimately that, as in the 1914-18 war, it would
prove impossible to prevent Londoners from using the underground railway
system as shelters, and it was very wisely decided to provide safeguards
which would allow the tunnels to be used with confidence, not only by
shelterers but also by the tremendous number of travellers who would
continue to use the system daily. In fact, London's underground railway
system was obviously so essential to the life of the Capital that the
intentional closing of the lines would have caused an impossible situation
and was unthinkable."

So in some respects this agrees with Clive's comments above.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Bill if you could would be grateful

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Floodgates on LU
    ... was realised that Londoner's would use the system as air-raid shelters. ... In the run-up to the war policy was that the Underground would *not* be ... many of the tunnels of which are ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Mars Questions
    ... underground component, sort of cities below the cities where life ... few hours, with air tanks, etc., nice and lightweight. ... could use some sort of incendiary rounds. ... tunnels remain, but most of the breathable air has been expended. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)
  • Re: Does marriage counseling work?
    ... People in the city will prefer to move between buildings in underground ... tunnels rather than face the elements up on the sidewalks. ... A sunny day ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)
  • Re: Does marriage counseling work?
    ... People in the city will prefer to move between buildings in underground ... tunnels rather than face the elements up on the sidewalks. ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)
  • Re: kills/killed ETO
    ... Rob Arndtwrote: ... way and had convinced Hitler to build underground from the start of ... the war instead of from 1944 and into early 1945. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)