Croydon At War

The Second World War

Life in Croydon was transformed by the Second World War.  Thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged by air raids, and more than 750 civilians lost their lives.

Bomb Maps

Covering the whole of the modern Borough, these large scale 1:2500 maps show where all the bombs fell, and even differentiate between different types of bombs, whether high explosive, doodlebugs, incendiaries or parachute mines.

Borough Engineer's Bomb Damage Reports

From September 1940 to July 1944, detailed reports on where and how many bombs fell, and the damage done to each building.  A street index is available.  Covers the pre-1965 Borough of Croydon only.

Casualty Reports

Registers of all fatalities in Croydon and the Urban District of Coulsdon and Purley, and, for Croydon only, original Death Due to War Operations forms.  Click here to view the Roll of Honour (World War 2).

Original ARP Reports

For the Urban District of Coulsdon and Purley, we have the original messages which passed between Control Centres and the wardens, firemen and rescue squads arriving on the scene of each incident.

Photographs

The Local Studies Library have indexed photographs of bomb damage, mainly from the period of V1 'doodlebug' attacks in the summer of 1944 - Croydon received more 'doodlebug' hits than any other London Borough.  There are hundreds of photographs of wartime activities and events, including evacuation, ARP parades, the Home Guard and VE Day.

Back to the War Years

Thursday, 23 May, 2013

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