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Were you a shelterer?
• DURING the London Blitz, the Tube was used by thousands for shelter from the bombing. It may seem an obvious refuge but at first the government and the transport authority refused entry to shelterers, believing that the mass use of the Tube would impede traffic and create a “deep shelter mentality” of fear and defeatism.
It was only when mass occupations of stations began in 1940, often led by the Communist Party, that the government climbed down, triggering the “biggest working class demonstration London has seen”.
Sheltering developed its own momentum, with sleeping arrangements, refreshments, first aid, newsletters and committees attracting widespread press comment and even appearing in a Hollywood movie.
There is no oral record of these times and we’d like to put that right. Were you a shelterer? We would like to hear from you if you were, or simply if you travelled on the Tube in those years or worked on the underground.
We would like to record your experiences and hope to place them on a website.
Contact me at 7837 0845, email davidwelsh83btinternet.com or write to 15 Wellington Road, Norwich, NR2 3HT.
DAVE WELSH
Norwich
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