Croydon At War

The First World War

For the first time, Croydon experienced rationing, blackout, air raids and compulsory military service.  More than 2500 Croydon men were killed on active service.

Air Raids

Croydon was bombed by Zeppelins in October 1915, and was subjected to further raids in 1916. For the 1915 raid, in which 9 civilians died, the Local Studies Library have photographs of bomb damage and newspaper accounts.  There are also an eyewitness account of a raid in 1916 among the correspondence of the Reverend Alexander Sandison.

Military Casualties

The Croydon Roll of Honour - a collection of photographs of several hundred of the thousands of local young men who died on active service.  Click here to view the Roll of Honour (World War 1).

The Croydon Special Constabulary

Hundreds of local men volunteered to serve with the Croydon Sub-Division of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSP), guarding 'vulnerable points', enforcing the blackout and manning observation points.  There are reports of the Croydon MSP for the entire wartime period.

Wartime Life

Among the archive collections, the letters of the Rev Alexander Sandison, Minister of South Croydon Congregational Church, to his brother Tom, in Shetland, provide a superb weekly account of life in Croydon, the progress of the War, and other news, between 1914 and 1920.  Moore and Sayers' Croydon and the Great War provides a detailed description of how the Borough was organised for war, and of the local military regiments.

Back to the War Years

Friday, 25 July, 2008

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