Category: World War 2

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Murder of St Alphage April 19th 1012

St Alphage. Church Tower on right, City Wall to left. Photo K Flude

I first came across St Alphage when I was working at the Museum of London. The Museum was built on the High Walk at London Wall. The raised Courbusian Walkway looked down on a ruin of a Gothic Church Tower, almost destroyed during the Blitz. This was St Alphage, a Church dedicated to the Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. (Alphage is also spelt Alphege or Alfege).

On the other side of the Walkway was the old graveyard of the Church. This preserved one of the very best sections of the old London Wall. Special because on one side its huge height was displayed. On the other, the only crenelated bit of the City Wall. And the only surviving part of the Wall dating to the War of the Roses.

St Alphage Roman and Medieval Wall
St Alphage Roman and Medieval Wall
The Crenelated Red Brick Section dates to 1477, during the War of the Roses
The Crennelated Red Brick Section dates to 1477, during the War of the Roses
St Alphage Wall explained in an information plaque.
St Alphage Wall explained on an information plaque.

In the 1980’s fellow Museum of London Archaeologist, Paul Herbert and I set up a Guided Walks company (Citisights of London) . Our walks started from outside the Museum of London, and so St Alphage formed a big part of our success. It led to a life giving Guided Walks and tours. So, St Alphage, thank you!

A Citisights Day Tour of the 1980s

St Alphage Elsyng Spittle St Mary ?

The Church was previously a monastic settlement called Elsyng Spittle (aka St Mary within Cripplegate). The Augustinian Canons looked after 100 blind men. It was refounded by Williain Elsing, and dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536. The Church was kept for a Parish Church. But the Puritans were not keen on dedications to St Mary. So, they renamed it after a London based Christian Martyr.

It remained a Parish Church until damaged in an air raid in World War One. (possibly on 8th September 1916 in a Zeppelin Raid – but I am speculating). The Church was partly demolished in 1923, leaving the Tower. The lower part of the Medieval Tower survived bombing in the Blitz. At 12.15 am on 25th Aug 1940, the first bombs on the City of London fell nearby in Fore Street. But the tower was hit in 1940. It was listed Grade 1 in 1950. Kept by the rebuilding of London Wall, and the Barbican area. Then substantially benefitting from a remodelling of the area in an excellent scheme of 2022.

St Ælfheah of Canterbury and Greenwich

StAlfege Greewich - Doyle own work Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0
StAlfege Greewich – Doyle own work Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

St Ælfheah was captured during a Viking attack on Canterbury. The Viking hoard relocated to Greenwich where they tried to negotiate a fat ransom for him. He was one of the richest men in the Kingdom. This is what the Anglo Saxon Chronicle says:

.. the raiding-army became much stirred up against the bishop, because he did not want to offer them any money, and forbade that anything might be granted in return for him. Also they were very drunk, because there was wine brought from the south. Then they seized the bishop, led him to their “hustings” on the Saturday in the octave of Easter, and then pelted him there with bones and the heads of cattle; and one of them struck him on the head with the butt of an axe, so that with the blow he sank down and his holy blood fell on the earth, and sent forth his holy soul to God’s kingdom.

St Alfege Greenwich, which is now a lovely Hawksmoor Church is said to be on the site of St Ælfheah‘s death.

St Alphage’s body was taken to St Pauls Cathedral where it was venerated. His remains were removed in suspicious circumstances by soldiers of King Cnut who translated the Saint’s bones to Greenwich. It is suggested King Cnut was punishing London for their opposition to him.

The Minotaur by Michael Ayrton

Also, part of the experience of visiting St Alphage from the High Walk was the statue of the Minotaur. I first came across this phallic Bull in the Postman’s Park and am very fond of it. Then it disappeared and reappeared on the High Walk. Now it is on the ground level near in the garden of St Alphage.

I understand that Michael Ayrton wanted to make a point about the destruction of London. He felt that the developers were more destructive than the Luftwaffe. They were like a Bull in a China Shop! So he created this statue of a very vigorous Bull representing the Minotaur. It is a very unusual work of art in that it sports a fully erect penis. Art History is full of naked women, but the male organ is largely left to pornography. For more about Ayrton follow this link.

The Minotaur in its present position
The Minotaur on the High Walk

First Written on April 19th 2025

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Beginning of the Financial Year April 6th

Google Screenshot welcoming the Beginning of the Financial Year

At last, I can relax! Today, is the beginning of the Financial Year. I have been trying to get money into my pension. I wanted to take advantage of tax concessions before the end of the financial year. How hard was that! But now done and I won’t bore you with the tedious details. And of course, it was probably the wrong time to do it, given the Trumpian Meltdown on stock exchanges. Thanks, Mr Trump.

Here is President Ronald Reagan talking about the inevitable disaster of high tariffs. Surprisingly, erudite? It makes me wonder whether Mr Trump is actually a Conservative?

Why is April 6th the Beginning of the Financial Year?

If you remember, in the medieval period, the official New Year was on March 25th. This was the Day of the Annunciation, the Day Mary conceived Jesus. (for much more on this see my post march-25th-feast-of-the-annunciation/). But in 1752, we followed belatedly, the Pope’s reorganisation of the Julian Calendar. We had to put our days back in sync with the Sun. This had gone 11 days out of kilter since Julius Caesar’s Reorganisation (see my post here!). As we lost 11 days, we had to put them back. So the beginning of the Financial Year in 1753 was changed to April 5th. A further adjustment in 1800 was necessary as this would have been a leap year. So the new Financial Year moved to April 6th. And it has remained so ever since. For more on the Gregorian Calendar look here.

Churchill & Roosevelt

Today, I did my Jane Austen Walk. I took people to Bond Street past the statue of Churchill sitting on a park bench chatting with Roosevelt. Seemed like it was from a different world?

Allies by Lawence Holofcener. 2nd May 1995 to commemorate 50 years of Peace. Photo by K Flude
Details of the Statue

On my Chaucer Walk this afternoon, one of the attendees told me he has been signed up to my Almanac for several years. He said he was very happy to see posts reposted from previous years. Thank you and good to know.

First Published 6th April 2025

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Blossom and Haggerston Park March 18th

Blosson in Haggerston Park on 9th March 2025, photo by kevin flude
Blosson in Haggerston Park on 9th March 2025, photo by K Flude

Last year on March 19th, I declared it was Peak Blossom! This year, it doesn’t seem to be quite that time yet, which is normally in April. However, walking around my local Park Haggerston Park today, I am revising my opinion a little. Haggerston is whitewashed with amazing blossom. I thought it was Blackthorn, until I read that Blackthorn was the tree from which Sloes are grown.

My ‘Flora Incognita’ tells me that it is Cherry Plum, Prunus cerasifera. This makes sense as in the summer, there were people collecting the small plums that were growing on the trees. The pink variety of cherry are not yet at peak blossom. I will post about peak blossom, later today.

I am using this occasion to write about my local park which I have been saving up for a ‘vacant day’. (see my post of Ovid and Vacant days)

Haggerston Park & Park Henges

Haggerston Park was built on the site of derelict houses, a tile manufacturer and a Gas Works in the post war years. The Gas works was situated by the Regent’s Canal with its own basin for loading supplies. In the 80s the Park was expanded to take in some areas which were residential streets. All that really remains of the Gas works are the perimeter walls, and the outline of the canal basin.

The park is a well-loved local facility with green lawns, trees and flowers. It also has a great new playground for kids; astroturf football pitches; tennis courts, toilets, cafe, City farm, and a wild wooded area. This is dominated by the Cherry Plum, trees and is a haven for squirrels. Rats loved it too, but I haven’t seen one for 18 months or so.

The Gardeners obviously like the hengiform design because the Park has a lot of henges, and circuses. I have named most of them.

Snowdrop Henge

Snowdrop henge Haggerston Park, photo K Flude
Snowdrop henge Haggerston Park, photo K Flude

Silver Birch Circle

Silver Birch Circle Haggerston Park, Photo Kevin Flude

The beautiful croci are not so clear in this picture, but they are really lovely! (See my post on Croci here). Last year I got a better photo of the croci.

Haggerston Park, 2024 Photo K Flude

Oak Tree Cluster

Oak Tree Cluster, Haggerston Park photo by Kevin Flude
Oak Tree Cluster, Haggerston Park photo by Kevin Flude

This wonderful Oak tree is surrounded by daffodils and croci.

Oak Tree and flowers, Haggerston Park Photo K Flude
Oak Tree and flowers, Haggerston Park Photo K Flude

Primula Patch

Primula Patch, Haggerston Park, Photo K Flude

The circle is in the middle of the Basin that connected the Gas Works to the Regent’s Canal. I do hope they are primulas. There is also a lovely circle of Roses.

Gas Works

Haggerston Park before WW2.

The Park covers the area of the Imperial Gas Works shown above. The photos above of the circles of flowers and trees are mostly in the area of the old Retort House (top left of the Gas works). You might also notice the Ice House, near the top left. (for my post on Ice House please look here).

An earlier map shows the basin leading to the Gas Works from the Canal:

1909 map of Haggerston.

Heron in the Pond, Ancient Wisteria

Looking at the maps, it makes it obvious how important the canal was for London’s 19th Century Industry. The whole strip of land on either side was full of factories, warehouses, and basins.

First written on 19th March 2025

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Holocaust Memorial Day & Montaillou January 27th

photo of The Kindertransport statue, Liverpool Street Station, London 2006 by Frank Meisler and Arie Oviada.
Holocaust Memorial Day photo fo The Kindertransport statue, Liverpool Street Station, London 2006 Statue by Frank Meisler and Arie Oviada Photo by K Flude

Statue for Holocaust Memorial Day

The statue commemorates the arrival of Jewish children by train at Liverpool St Station, In London. This was 1938/9 in the Kindertransport. They were sent by parents desperate to save their children from fascist genocide in Germany and Austria. The children were unaccompanied and, as depicted in the statue, stand proud as they arrive in a strange country. They are tagged. And the train track represents both the trains to the death camps, and the train to safety. There are some great photos and more information on the statue in: talkingbeautifulstuff.com

Montaillou by Emmanual Le Roy Ladurie

Holocaust Memorial Day and Montaillou

On the subject of prejudice, genocide and abuse of power. I was reminded of one of the formative reads of my life. I met the great Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie at dinner at my father-in-law’s house in the 1980s. I was awestruck. Because Montaillou was one of the early histories ‘from below’. The focus was not on kings, queens nor on the flux of states and empires. No, the focus was on the lives (and deaths) of ordinary people. Something that has continued as a focus of my historical interest.

Nor, before Ladurie, had I imagined that medieval lives could be so minutely brought to life. The book was a sensation, selling over a quarter of a million copies. Professor Ladurie became a media star, and, it remains one of the great historical reads. (Of course, the book and the historiography now attracts some criticism, but do read it!)

The context of the story is appalling. In 1208, the Pope decided to launch a crusade against heretics in the South of France. This is about the genocide of the Cathars. The lives of the persecuted are revealed under interrogation by the Cathodic Inquisition. Cathars had many unorthodox and ‘heretical’ ideas. They believed in a Good God and an Evil God. We, humans, are all angels trapped in this terrible world by the Evil God. Women and men were equal and could be reincarnated into each other’s bodies. Our lives were spent awaiting the time we became ‘perfect’ and released to our spiritual form for eternity.

Cathar Massacre at Béziers

From the 21st Century, these ideas seem nor more nor less irrational than mainstream religions. But these opinions ‘justified’ a Crusade and Inquisition that followed which were truly savage, with many thousand slaughtered. For example, on 22 July 1209, the Catholic forces were led by Arnaud-Amaury. He was not only the Commander of the army but also a Cistercian abbot. Many of the citizens of Béziers were seeking refuge in St Mary Magdalene. The abbot ordered the doors to be battered down to get at the refugees inside. When asked how the soldiers could separate the Catholics from the Cathars. He replied “Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius“—”Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own”.

All 7,000 men, women and children seeking sanctuary were killed. Thousands more in the town were mutilated, blinded, dragged behind horses, used for target practice and massacred. Arnaud-Amaury wrote to Pope Innocent III

“Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex.”

But, despite this reading Montaillou is a pleasure. It brings those persecuted souls back to life in all their human glory. Also a reminder that it is by intolerance and ‘othering’ of normal homo sapiens which allows the conditions for evil to flourish. We have to treat all human life as sacred. And bring to bear our human empathy and capacity for mercy. Anything less allows the slaughter of the innocent.

OnThis Day

Today is also the Roman Festival of Castor and Pollux. (more on the divine twins on my post on the 15th July at the other festival of the Dioscuri).
1998 – President Clinton ‘did not have sex with that woman’.

First written in January 2023 and revised Jan 2024, 2025

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St Cecilia’s Day, Henry Wood and the BBC Proms, 17th November

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, Musician’s Chapel, St Cecilia window. 17 August 2022, Andy Scott

November 17th is St Cecilia’s Day She is the patron saint of musicians and was martyred in Rome in the Second or Third Century AD. The story goes that she was married to a non-believer, and during her marriage ceremony she sang to God in her heart (hence her affiliation with musicians). She then told her husband, that she was a professed Virgin, and that if he violated her, he would be punished by God. Ceclia told him she was being protected by an Angel of the Lord who was watching over her. Valerian, her husband, asked to see the Angel. ‘Go to the Third Milestone along the Appian Way’ he was told where he would be baptised by Pope Urban 1. Only then would he see the Angel. He followed her advice, was converted and he and his wife were, later on, martyred.

The Church in Rome, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, is said to be built on the site of her house, and has 5th Century origins. My friend, Derek Gadd, recently visited and let me use these photographs:

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Photo by Derek Gadd
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Photo by Derek Gadd

St Cecilia in London

There is a window dedicated to her in the Holy Sepulchre Church-without-Newgate, In London, opposite the site of the infamous Newgate Prison.  Henry Wood, one of our most famous conductors and the founder of the Promenade Concerts, played organ here when he was 14. In 1944, his ashes were placed beneath the window dedicated to St Cecilia and, later, the Church became the National Musician’s Church.

This window is dedicated to the memory of
Sir Henry Wood, C.H.,
Founder and for fifty years Conductor of
THE PROMENADE CONCERTS
1895-1944.
He opened the door to a new world
Of sense and feeling to millions of
his fellows. He gave life to Music
and he brought Music to the People.
His ashes rest beneath.

The Concerts are now called the BBC Proms and continue an 18th and 19th Century tradition of, originally, outdoor concerts, and then indoor promenade concerts. At the end of the 19th Century, the inexpensive Promenade Concerts were put on to help broaden the interest in classical music. Henry Wood was the sole conductor.

Wikipedia reports :

Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as “the world’s largest and most democratic musical festival”.

The Eight-week Festival is held at the Royal Albert Hall. It moved here during World War 2 after the original venue, the Queen’s Hall, was destroyed in the Blitz in May 1941.

First Published on November 17th 2023 and revised in November 2024

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Gordon Russell, the Mosquito and Broadway November 14th

De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito B Mk IV Series 2n (Wikipedia CCO)

On November 14th, 1940 on the night of the Coventry blitz, a bomb dropped on a barn in a beautiful village in the Cotswolds. Broadway is a tourist attraction and was known as one of the most beautiful villages in Britain when it was the playground for many artists, writers, actors, designers and other bohemians of the late 19th Century. The Coventry raid was the most concentrated bombing raid on a UK town in the War. Why the pilot chose to drop bombs on Broadway is not known, but probably to get rid of unused bombs, on his way home and not targeted specially on Broadway. However, the Barn contained stock from the Gordon Russell shop in Mayfair, London and Gordon Russell was playing his part in the war effort.

Gordon Russell was a famous furniture designer, and during the War he turned over his carpentry workshops to the war effort. They made the wings of the famous World War Two Mosquito fighter bombers in Russell’s modernist furniture factory in the Back Lane of Broadway next to the barn. The Mosquito was fast enough to be a fighter and could carry a decent payload of bombs. Because of their flexibility and speed, they had many roles in the war, including being the pathfinder for many of the nighttime raids on Germany.

Gordon Russell Ltd also made ammunition boxes, and high-precision aircraft models for wind tunnel testing and other purposes. Gordon himself designed a utility range of furniture to minimise the amount of wood needed for new furniture during the war.

Images taken by Kevin Flude of the displays at the Gordon Russell Museum, Broadway. Showing a description of the Utility range designed by Gordon Russell during World War 2
Gordon Russell’s Utility Range WW2
The Barn destroyed by bombing by Frank Whitton
Model Spitfire for wind tunnel testing
Gordon and Don Russell 1917

Images above taken by Kevin Flude of the displays at the Gordon Russell Museum, Broadway. The Museum is well worth a visit, and Broadway itself remains a delight.

A little further research reveals that the Broadway fire brigade history pages suggests the raid was on Dec 11, and I have found another site claiming the barn was destroyed in October.

‘There were several large fires in Broadway during the war. On the night of December 11th 1940 a German bomber dropped a quantity of incendiary bombs on the village. A number of them fell on Gordon Russell’s furniture factory setting light to a large wooden, thatched barn. The building containing fine furniture and textiles, brought from London for safe keeping, was quickly destroyed. Ironically, the barn also contained a large order of furniture for Sir John Anderson – the Minister for Air Raid Precautions!‘


‘Another incendiary landed on the machine shop roof burning a hole, before being extinguished, it is believed, by a factory worker who lived nearby. The temporary plywood patch which was nailed on the underside of the hole was still in place when the factory was demolished in 2004. When a cottage adjacent to the factory was recently re-thatched, an unexploded incendiary bomb was discovered lodged in the old thatch. According to an Evesham Journal report, published at the end of the war, bombs fell in the Broadway area on seven separate occasions.‘

The two paragraphs above are taken directly from http://www.broadwayfire.co.uk/second_world_war.htm

My father, I discovered a couple of nights ago, worked on Mosquitoes in his time in the RAF. His job at the time was to salvage instruments from crashed aeroplanes, and Mosquitoes were, along with Spitfires, and Hurricanes, amongst the ones he worked on.

For more from the Almanac about Broadway, see:

The Great Broadway Paint off June 18th
and:
Henry Ford’s Love of the Cotswolds

Another source for this post was: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/nEzPogPpsy7QD4US/

First published on 14th November 2024

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The Ultimate RAF London Blitz Story September 15th 1940

Black and white photo from a german plane above another german bomber over docklands in the Blitz

On September 15th 1940 Ray Holmes, World War 2 RAF Pilot, flying a Hurricane, took on three Luftwaffe Bombers over Central London.  He shot one down, chased another off and engaged the third which seemed to be heading for Buckingham Palace. Between the 8th and 13th of September 1940, the Palace had been hit 5 times. The London Blitz had only ‘begun’ on September 7th though the first raid on the City of London was on the 25th August on Fore Street.

Holmes, by now had ran out of bullets, but deliberately targeted the fin of the Dornier bomber, and crashed into it causing the bomber to spiral down into Victoria Station. Holmes’ hurricane, spiralled down out of control, but he was able to bail out and landed in a dustbin, much to the bemusement of the locals. Holmes died aged 90 in 2005.

This post is heavily based on the story below, which is told in full detail.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/battle-britain-fighter-pilot-who-19963243

Al;so on September 26th – The Mayflower sails from Plymouth, finally getting away from the Old World for the New World. 1620

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St Giles Day and Cripplegate September 1st

Public domainThe Master of St Giles, National Gallery. ‘St Giles and the Hind’
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.

Today, is St Giles’ Feast Day. His story is mostly unknown, but he was thought to be a hermit who had a pet Hind in the Arles District of France perhaps in the 9th Century. The hounds of King Wamba (a Visigothic King) were chasing the deer, and shot an arrow into the undergrowth. The King and his men followed to discover Giles wounded by the arrow, protecting the hind, who he held in his arms. The hounds were miraculously stayed motionless as they leaped towards the hind. Wamba apparently means ‘Big paunch’ in Gothic. He was also called Flavius. Giles was injured in the leg, although the image above shows the arrow in his hand.

St Giles is, therefore, the patron saint of disabled people. He was very popular in medieval Britain, with over 150 churches dedicated to him, including four in London. Perhaps the two most famous are St Giles Without Cripplegate in London and St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

St Giles Cripplegate, photographed by the Author at night from the Barbican Centre.

St Giles Cripplegate was built in the 11th Century, and rebuilt in the 14th Century and again in 1545-50 after nearly being destroyed by fire. It survived the Great Fire of London, being just beyond the extent of the Fire. It was badly damaged in the Blitz, but the Tower and the outer walls survived. Oliver Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier here. John Foxe of the Book of Martyrs, John Speed, the Cartographer, Martin Frobisher and John Milton were buried here. Milton’s coffin was opened in 1793 and he was said to have looked as if he had just been buried. One of those present, then tried to pull Milton’s teeth out, which a bystander helped by hitting them with a stone. The few teeth Milton had left in his head were divided between the men, who also took a rib bone and locks of his hair. The Caretaker then opened the coffin for anyone who wanted to see the corpse!

From the London City Wall Trail.

Cripplegate, one of the Gates in the City Wall (originally the North Gate of the Roman Fort) may be named because it was a good place to gather for those trying to beg alms for their disabilities. Although it has also been said that there was an underground tunnel from the Gate’s Barbican to the Gate which in Anglo Saxon is a Crepel. Or because of the cure of cripples when Edmund the Martyr’s remains passed through the gate in 1010.

The Corner Tower of the London City Wall, the Barbican in the background, and the tower of St Giles’ Church behind the Tower. Photo by the author

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VIRTUAL GUIDED WALKS COMING UP

THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK

Reconstruction of Dark Age London Bridge
London in the 5th Century Reconstruction painting.

Sunday 4th July 2021 6.30pm

An exploration of what happened following the Roman Period. How did a Celtic speaking Latin educated Roman City become, first deserted, then recovered to become the leading City in a Germanic speaking Kingdom?

To book

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON ANNIVERSARY VIRTUAL WALK

Virtual Zoom Walk on Sunday Sept 5th 6.30pm

On the Anniversary of the Great Fire of London we retrace the route of the fire of 1666 from Pudding Lane to Smithfield.

To book

RING IN THE EQUINOX VIRTUAL WALK

Tuesday 21st September 2021 7.30pm

On this walk we look at London at the Equinox, its calendars, folklore and events associated with the beginning of Autumn

To book

MYTHS, LEGENDS, & HALLOWEEN VIRTUAL WALK

SUNDAY 31st October 2021 6.30pm

The walk tells the story of London’s myths and legends and the celtic origins of Halloween. .

To book

ZEPPELIN NIGHTS – A VIRTUAL WALK FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Sunday 14 November 2021 6.30pm

We follow the route of a Zeppelin Raid through London. On the way we discover London in World War 1

To book