WW2 Ghost Signs - Wartime Heritage Everywhere!

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  • Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
  • One of the last survivors of WWII that can be seen everywhere are 'ghost signs' - signs for air raid shelters and fire hydrants, long forgotten and ignored but representing the terror of German bombing.
    Special thanks to Roy Reed for permission to reproduce some of his photographs. For more great images of 'Ghost Signs' please visit: www.flickr.com...
    Many thanks also to Sam Roberts, and I heartily recommend a book he wrote with Roy Reed about this fascinating subject: ghostsigns.co....
    Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA, is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.o...
    Visit my audio book channel 'War Stories with Mark Felton': • One Thousand Miles to ...
    Help support my channel:
    www.paypal.me/...
    / markfeltonproductions
    Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
    Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress

Комментарии • 1 тыс.

  • @stephenbridges2791
    @stephenbridges2791 Год назад +419

    Hard to imagine things like this still exist after all these years. Those of us that love history are grateful for your continued efforts. Well done, as always.

    • @georgemartin1436
      @georgemartin1436 Год назад +11

      Okay...so what type of paint was used and where can I buy some?

    • @Pygar2
      @Pygar2 Год назад +12

      @@georgemartin1436 Leaded. Nowhere...

    • @WillyTooBigHall
      @WillyTooBigHall Год назад +4

      @@Pygar2 baby boomers got to have everything

    • @jameswolf133
      @jameswolf133 Год назад +9

      I’ve seen ads from the 1920s painted on the sides of buildings in New York.

    • @miked1765
      @miked1765 Год назад +6

      I’m in rural northern Illinois and from my house I can see bomb storage bunkers from the old ordinance plant.

  • @bilbobigbollix7318
    @bilbobigbollix7318 Год назад +178

    I go past the Deptford signs frequently.
    It's not only signs that remind people of the war. When my mum was alive she could never watch the end of Dads Army as during the end credits a siren would sound. It bought back too many memories of the Blitz for her and she would leave the room as the credits began to roll.

    • @paultapner2769
      @paultapner2769 Год назад +11

      In the Guards museum, in the centre of London, you can see the very siren that was used to record that moment. They've also got some bricks from the south wall of Hougmont farm. Only takes about forty five mins to go around, but totally worth it.

    • @nemosis9449
      @nemosis9449 Год назад +4

      There used to be a one on Ladywell bridge in SE London bridge stating "shelter for 500"

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Год назад +9

      Living close to a Fire Station that has both full time and retained crews, a siren still sounds whenever the bells go down if all crews are required for the shout. The retained crew(s) are contacted by more modern means but the siren has not been disconnected from the bells. Also acts a warning to locals that Fire Tenders will be hurrying through the town so can listen and watch out for the blues and twos.

    • @sarge4455
      @sarge4455 Год назад +3

      @@tonys1636 that’s cool 😎

    • @bouffon1
      @bouffon1 Год назад +2

      I remember, about 60 years ago, reading about someone that died of a heart attack during a siren test in Leicester. I never understood what siren tests were necessary, they certainly made everyone nervous, especially those that hadn't known that a test was scheduled.

  • @zippypinhead9573
    @zippypinhead9573 Год назад +449

    1st gen USA here. My father was born in Norwich, flew landcaters at 17 y.o. 1939. Mum born in Londonarry, worked at radar plorltting room at 14 y.o.. Dad was transferred to calgary to train Canadian pilots after the war. Ended up in the USA. Nice to see his home town. Thanks.

    • @johnelliott7375
      @johnelliott7375 Год назад +16

      God bless you and your family. I have to say also to the Doctor God bless you.

    • @jamespfitz
      @jamespfitz Год назад

      Loved your comic

    • @Jalapeno690
      @Jalapeno690 Год назад +2

      Where’s londonderry?

    • @GlasgowGallus
      @GlasgowGallus Год назад +11

      ​@@Jalapeno690 Northern Ireland... 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

    • @carlgraves1817
      @carlgraves1817 Год назад +9

      @@GlasgowGallus Norn Iron....

  • @Bogdan-wq3us
    @Bogdan-wq3us Год назад +103

    Thank you for the video, Dr. Felton. Here in Dnipro we have plenty of signs left by Soviet sappers on the buildings after the German forces left the city in 1943. The signs say "Проверено, мин нет, 11.43" (Checked, no mines, the month and the year). The ones I know of are preserved: their black paint is being renewed from time to time.

    • @libertyvilleguy2903
      @libertyvilleguy2903 Год назад +4

      Very interesting, thank you.

    • @aldo5428
      @aldo5428 Год назад +1

      Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to keep and maintain these historic relics…

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад +2

      @@aldo5428 77 year's ago isn't ancient history kid

    • @nematolvajkergetok5104
      @nematolvajkergetok5104 Год назад +2

      There were some in Budapest too, as I mentioned in another comment. But those were written in chalk, and none survived to this day.

  • @ray7419
    @ray7419 Год назад +141

    I love the hidden history that you always find Dr. Felton. 👍

    • @aldo5428
      @aldo5428 Год назад +3

      @Internet Explorer Hidden in plain sight…

    • @ray7419
      @ray7419 Год назад

      @Internet Explorer Many hidden items throughout the world and time have been found. Tutankhamen’s tomb, for example.

  • @maizie9454
    @maizie9454 Год назад +200

    had a friend who was a nurses aide in ww2 England as an 18 yr old. she said it was the time of her life-lots of rules were dropped and you literally lived like there was no tomorrow.
    I'm sure she wasn't alone

    • @paulroberts3639
      @paulroberts3639 Год назад +42

      That is why there was a baby boom!

    • @MI-mx3rh
      @MI-mx3rh Год назад +1

      I know everyone was banging everyone, to get laid if tomorrow never came

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад

      @@paulroberts3639 Grow up

    • @afridgetoofar1818
      @afridgetoofar1818 Год назад +44

      @@m42037 You must be fun at parties, Ken.

    • @hadz8671
      @hadz8671 Год назад +22

      My Mum was a nurse during the war, and said that afterwards whenever she heard an air-raid siren in a TV drama it still sent a shiver down her spine.

  • @talkingdonkey1817
    @talkingdonkey1817 Год назад +34

    Big love and respect from America to Britain and “their finest hour”. Excellent video!

    • @talkingdonkey1817
      @talkingdonkey1817 Год назад +8

      Sorry we didn’t jump in the game with you much earlier.

    • @TheSaltydog07
      @TheSaltydog07 Год назад +2

      Cheers from Georgia USA
      🇬🇧 🇺🇲

  • @vickiewallace415
    @vickiewallace415 Год назад +20

    I absolutely LOVE this channel! Dr. Felton did it again and this old lady is learning something new today!

  • @malekodesouza7255
    @malekodesouza7255 Год назад +62

    Love this. I grew up in Honolulu. There still remains evidence of the December 7th attack, especially on older buildings that remain standing in Pearl & Hickam AFB. Mainly battle damage to concrete that to this day was never repaired.

    • @geoffreybennett8912
      @geoffreybennett8912 Год назад +3

      They probably didn't repair it as a small memorial to the dead. And as a reminder of why you should never forget your history, or you will be doomed to repeat it.

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад +1

      @@geoffreybennett8912 Oh please, ever heard of a manic named "Putin?" What do you think he's doing playing hippity hop to the barber shop?

    • @GuonMr
      @GuonMr Год назад +2

      The USAF HQ building at Hickam Field, Honolulu, is riddled with bullet holes from the Dec 7 attach. They have never been patched up.

    • @mdogg1604
      @mdogg1604 Год назад +1

      @@m42037 I want to believe GB was referring to madmen such as Putin and the little fat guy.

    • @johncox2865
      @johncox2865 Год назад +2

      May it never be repaired or forgotten 🇺🇸

  • @Sarah-JaneR32
    @Sarah-JaneR32 Год назад +38

    Nice video, I’ve seen those but didn’t know what they were. My mum was a child during the blitz she still shivers with fear at the air siren, she heard this and was alarmed at first, thank you Mark for the videos

  • @aland7236
    @aland7236 Год назад +94

    Doctor Felton, thank you for the education. It's fascinating to hear about all of the public notifications remaining from that terrifying time. Where I live in Florida we don't have underground air raid shelters, they'd fill with groundwater immediately. We do have visual markers to help Firefighters in a blackout condition though. On the roadways or on a telephone/power pole you'll see a blue roadway reflector every now and then, this is a signal that a hydrant is very close by.

    • @SunofYork
      @SunofYork Год назад +5

      At age 59 I was kidnapped by a curvy redhead Wisconsinite....and I am still there...shivering. I remember all the H signs in England and rafting in the flooded air raid shelters.... A shot-down Luftwaffe crewman buried his iron cross on my street. It was found in the 1970s and he was traced in Germany and his medal was presented to him... His crashed bomber killed a family 6 miles away... When he was found (talking to cows in a field), the policeman made him sit on his motorcycle pillion while he was taken 5 miles to the police station

    • @outlet6989
      @outlet6989 Год назад +2

      Alan, I also live in FL. After moving here, I noticed strange signs on buildings. They had a symbol with the letter "R" printed on them. I did a BING search which told me the purpose of the signs. I'll quote the meaning in case you don't know. "Florida Reflective Fire Symbol sign - Symbol and "R" copy indicates Lightweight Roof Truss Required by Florida Law 69A-60.0081, This Fire Safety Sign is used to notify first responders of danger of lightweight frame Roof truss type construction. "R" indicates roof only."

    • @marks.c4753
      @marks.c4753 Год назад

      @@outlet6989 I remember as a Early sixties kid seeing tank's running around on the streets of fort Myers. Cuban missile crisis.

  • @Roller_Ghoster
    @Roller_Ghoster Год назад +14

    Ghost signs of WW2. Now that did capture my attention. Looking forward to this one. Thanks Mark Felton for all the videos.

  • @rogernewark2015
    @rogernewark2015 Год назад +47

    The EWS Emergency Water Supply were used as a water source for the fire brigade, particularly as the water mains were liable to be fractured due to the bombing. I was born in 1943 and grew up in post-war London where these EWS signs were once very common. Frequently the basement area of bombed buildings were used as a water reservoir. Unfortunately they sometimes provided a grisly end to stray dogs and drunks!

    • @crossleydd42
      @crossleydd42 Год назад +4

      Actually, the fire brigade sign was SWS, standing for Static Water Supply. usually a large tank put on some spare ground by the roadside.

    • @powderfinger4790
      @powderfinger4790 Год назад +3

      The wartime movie Colonel Blimp features a scene in front of one of those emergency reservoirs.

    • @MarkCoupe-td7rd
      @MarkCoupe-td7rd Год назад +1

      My dad told me that as children they used to go swimming in the emergency water supply

  • @Horizon344
    @Horizon344 Год назад +18

    There's a WW2 air raid siren still active at Hampton-on-Thames water works which sounds every Tuesday morning for 10 seconds as part of an public alarm test system for the potential of a chlorine leak from the facility. It's a haunting sounds, just like you hear in WW2 films, & one can easily imagine what it felt like in the war warning of Luftwaffe bombers incoming. ✈📢

  • @Eisselmann
    @Eisselmann Год назад +15

    Saw those in our city in Germany too.
    Took part in a class by the local historic society about the damages in our city in WW2.
    It‘s amazing to see how many things already vanished…

    • @negativeindustrial
      @negativeindustrial Год назад +2

      I can’t imagine the devastation that was visited upon the German cities. It’s amazing there is anything left from before the war.

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад

      @@negativeindustrial After

  • @Lockbar
    @Lockbar Год назад +6

    Always something interesting from Dr. Felton. Never boring.

  • @j1st633
    @j1st633 Год назад +5

    Wonderful! Great point. Lift your head up from your smart phone.

  • @HalfWarrior
    @HalfWarrior Год назад +7

    As a former billboard painter and sign maker; this is interesting and also sad for the reasons why the signs are there. Thank you Mark!

  • @RealityOrganized
    @RealityOrganized Год назад +3

    This is important history. May we never forget.

  • @ryecreeks
    @ryecreeks Год назад +1

    Dr. Felton, you bring tiny bits of overlooked history to life with your amazing ability to give them a voice! Thank you!

  • @matthewgil3146
    @matthewgil3146 Год назад +9

    Absolutely one of my favorite people to listen to on RUclips! Always polite and keeping the wonder of history, as well as laying a case for those who may not have known, of why History should be taught, learned, and respected. Thank you Mr. Felton, always a pleasure!

  • @billlombard9911
    @billlombard9911 Год назад +2

    These signs need protecting , too many people suffered and gave their lives saving Europe and the world . We must never forget anyones sacrifice . These signs can aid as a teaching tool and a reminder

  • @ericw3229
    @ericw3229 Год назад +23

    As a boy in America (1960's ) Air Raid and Fallout Shelter signs were commonly seen in business districts on school buildings public libraries and other places. We also did air raid drills in schools too. Both of my elementary schools had below ground Air Raid shelter areas.

    • @janblake9468
      @janblake9468 Год назад +7

      I was a boy in the 1950's. Same for us. Those useless "duck and cover' drills for a nuke attack. In 2015, I saw air raid shelter signs in a small Kansas town. The air raid, now tornado, siren was WWII vintage.

    • @petenielsen6683
      @petenielsen6683 Год назад +1

      Some of the nuclear attack sirens along Lake Ontario are now maintained in case of nuclear power plant accidents that would require evacuation here in New York. And some teachers in the mid 1970s were still taking the duck and cover drills seriously while their younger counterparts understood that the reason for them was to educate us about what our parents were taught would really help. Not because it was still believed ducking under our desks would save us. And yes, my middle school had canvas fire hoses built into the walls in "break the glass" alcoves (complete with fire axes!) every 40 feet or so and since it was built in the mid 1930s it still had black out curtains. Those were useful for darkening the rooms for using film strips and movies.

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад +1

      The Russians were (are) well hated then, we never knew when those evil Reds would attack us

    • @flybobbie1449
      @flybobbie1449 Год назад

      Strange US took possible atom bomb attack seriously with shelters. We would see US films with bomb shelter signs on walls. No such signs UK best we saw was a film, suggesting hide under a door!

  • @GlasgowGallus
    @GlasgowGallus Год назад +1

    WW2 ended almost 80 years ago, but in real terms, the War, and it's effects, was yesterday... Here in Glasgow, there are many old air raid sirens still visible on older buildings, many old 'prefab' temporary houses built at the end of the war, and only intended to have a 5 to 10 year lifespan, still in use and selling on for tidy sums. In the Glasgow tenements where I grew up in the 70's, we played in the old air raid shelters in the back courts.. The list of social artifacts is endless... Thanks again for a thought provoking video Mark... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

  • @benisaten
    @benisaten Год назад +3

    Thank you for this. Your video topics are always intriguing. No need to create new stories when there are countless fascinating untold ones throughout history. May they all be remembered forever. Cheers from 🇨🇦✌️

  • @nefersguy
    @nefersguy Год назад

    No one brings history back to life like Dr. Felton.

  • @galaxieman1964
    @galaxieman1964 Год назад +4

    If you raise your head up from your smartphone and look..... Priceless. Sadly, a small picture of our modern world.

  • @jon759
    @jon759 Год назад

    Over 50 and still learning new things, thank you Mr. Felton.

  • @charlessaint7926
    @charlessaint7926 Год назад +60

    My 8th Grade school in Texas still had signs for the fallout shelter in the basement. The shelter was still there. It was now being used for tornadoes.

    • @kennethp1423
      @kennethp1423 Год назад +8

      Older bigger cities in NJ like Plainfield, Elizabeth and Newark all have them fading signs attached to brick walls. I see them regularly.

    • @rutabagasteu
      @rutabagasteu Год назад

      I saw such shelters, at least the signs, as late as the 1990s.

    • @ianmurray4081
      @ianmurray4081 Год назад +7

      Living in South Korea, this is still a fact of life.

    • @lackedpuppet9022
      @lackedpuppet9022 Год назад +2

      I don't know how common it is elsewhere in the country, but living in New England near a defense manufacturing city, every town in the area has old _Fallout Shelter_ signs on buildings.

    • @mgreen7063
      @mgreen7063 Год назад +1

      I just saw one on a home door at an estate sale last week. Some were stickers on doorframes, some were painted on in the black and yellow patterns on the walls.

  • @TheSaltydog07
    @TheSaltydog07 Год назад

    Thank you, Mark, for documenting this piece of history. Has anyone else?

  • @raymondwoods2304
    @raymondwoods2304 Год назад +3

    Even though I was born just after the war, the sound of the Air Raid Sirens still send cold shivers up me.

  • @MrCraftboy29
    @MrCraftboy29 Год назад +2

    Being a local of Norwich I've known about those painted signs around the city, prety sure I've seen you around the city, it's nice to finally see someone talk about these signs especially someone on RUclips I've watched for years now...

    • @ooee6383
      @ooee6383 Год назад

      I knew a cute girl from Norwich. She was the first interaction I had on that personal-kind of level with a foreigner and I'll tell you she made me love the UK. I love our neighbors across an ocean.

  • @vf24renegade23
    @vf24renegade23 Год назад +3

    Incredibly emotive...absolutely correct. Well done.

  • @darrinlumby3296
    @darrinlumby3296 Год назад

    Absolutely fantastic!! THIS is the stuff I love more than anything regarding history.
    Thank you!!!!!!

  • @thestonedabbot9551
    @thestonedabbot9551 Год назад +4

    Love that Coventry footage at the end. Our council house still has shrapnel damage from the Nov 1940 raid
    During a 75th anniversary commemoration ceremony, I met an 83yo woman who was actually in the cellar of the cathedral when it got hit by incendiaries. An air warden yelled at them to get out, and this then 8yo woman, whos family were devout Catholics, had to run through the 14thC St Michaels cathedral as it burned and collapsed around them. Hearing her speak was a very profound experience. Never Forget

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад

      Damn that's sad, the Nazis had no mercy on historical buildings, they even tried to kill big Ben with a U2

  • @airborne488
    @airborne488 Год назад

    Once again, an Excellent Job Dr. Felton! Thank you!

  • @mch12311969
    @mch12311969 Год назад +5

    I'm always fascinated by ghost signs. Thank you for explaining some the WWII era signs in the UK.

  • @the_lichemaster
    @the_lichemaster Год назад

    Thank you Dr Felton for preserving these historical nuggets for prosperity before their physical source is wiped from history.

  • @W7DSY
    @W7DSY Год назад +5

    Fantastic! Thanks for bringing this to light for us, Dr. Felton!! Of course, we have ghost signs in the U.S., but none so poignant or dramatic as these. I hope some of these can be preserved by "arrested decay."

  • @carlos06291960
    @carlos06291960 Год назад

    Mark once I think you have exhausted all historic tidbits, here you go again! Great work!🥂

  • @SuperDiablo101
    @SuperDiablo101 Год назад +3

    Fascinating as usual Mr Felton especially me as an American you really brought forth the terror and desperation that early WWII london had

  • @scottallpress3818
    @scottallpress3818 Год назад

    Awesome episode , these towns should make sure this is all protected indefinitely. Very powerful history and should be saved at all costs .

  • @wayneantoniazzi2706
    @wayneantoniazzi2706 Год назад +55

    This reminds me of the "Fallout Shelter" signs you can see on some building in urban areas here in the US, all Cold War relics. Just like the British "ghost signs" I wonder how many today know what they mean?
    And that must have been some tough British paint to have lasted all these years!
    Thanks Doctor Felton! And a good reminder history can be all round you if you know where to look!
    (By the way, there's still rubble to be seen in Richmond's James River from the Evacuation Fire of April 1865.)

    • @lawrencelewis2592
      @lawrencelewis2592 Год назад +6

      I grew up in New York and recall the CD signs. my father in law had CD cans of water in his basement.

    • @z0phi3l
      @z0phi3l Год назад +3

      Those are rare now, same with the CD ones, too bad most young people have no clue what they were for

    • @PrograError
      @PrograError Год назад +1

      IIRC those FS are nowadays not accurate at all. So there's a need to find one, best not trust it too much ( I heard during cold war they just slap it on pretty much any how and so.)

    • @wayneantoniazzi2706
      @wayneantoniazzi2706 Год назад +1

      @@PrograError I suspect the whole idea was to give people a little bit of hope to hold on to, not whether the shelters were really going to be effective.

    • @Z38_US
      @Z38_US Год назад +4

      @@wayneantoniazzi2706 Probably so.
      Think I saw a video about these a while ago stating that a lot of these FS signs pointed to rooms and such that, in the event of a nuclear attack, would be absolutely obliterated and not save anyone but atleast they were able to say their city had 10's of thousands of Fallout Shelters.

  • @paulw176
    @paulw176 Год назад +1

    It's only been since the rise of internet access and content like this that I've been able to immerse in the history I appreciate so much. As a 'boomer' my previous life was confined to books and the rare tv coverage of these events. Thanks Dr F -

  • @nancyM1313
    @nancyM1313 Год назад +12

    thanks Dr. Felton. there is still alot of ghost history around. I have seen a few buildings with the signs air raid shelter.
    great video✌🏼💗

  • @AtPeacePiece
    @AtPeacePiece Год назад

    This channel gets me through dark days. 🙏 thank you Mark.

  • @TheFlutecart
    @TheFlutecart Год назад +3

    The Brits really pulled together when it counted the most. That's what I see when looking at the faded paint. The "Keep Calm and Carry On" slogan is an after thought, these faded painted signs on brick are the real thing. Really cool video, stirring.

  • @csaint6780
    @csaint6780 Год назад +2

    WOW! I never would have guessed, another great lesson, Thanks Mr Felton.

  • @benbaker2965
    @benbaker2965 Год назад +5

    I have watched videos of urban explorers in the vast system of bomb shelters throughout England. Many people have no idea they exist beneath them. Some gave been repurposed and some are ababdoned . As a American, I am impressed with how vast and organized the system truly was.

  • @gaskmaskpoet
    @gaskmaskpoet Год назад

    Well done, I find it refreshing to hear "Keep your eyes off your I-phone" and go for an "urban walk". I also keep my eyes open for abandoned ghost signs, graffiti, relics, and abandoned stuff. Well done!

  • @simonrook5743
    @simonrook5743 Год назад +29

    My Father lived through WW2 near Detling aerodrome, though only 10months old when war broke out he has a few memories. My Mother was born in Brentford in 1941 but recalls the heavy steel table they had as an air raid shelter (don’t EVER stub your toe on it she will tell you). My Paternal grandfather was in a reserve occupation but signed up and was a civilian flying instructor on Spitfires later in the war while my Maternal grandfather was heavily involved in the blitz on London being in the London Fire Brigade.
    My parents met in Ramsgate and I’d much recommend a tour of the Ramsgate (bomb shelter) tunnels.

    • @bilbobigbollix7318
      @bilbobigbollix7318 Год назад +1

      Detling got an absolute pasting in the Battle of Britain but German intelligence had got it wrong (as it did frequently). It was a coastal command base and was not the home to any BoB fighter squadrons. Your dad's early months would have been noisy!
      And you're right, anyone who goes to the east of Kent (or Kent really!) has to go to the tunnels at Ramsgate. Fascinating. Has Mark been there?

  • @chuckboyle8456
    @chuckboyle8456 Год назад

    Thank you for another rewarding video. Today, one can only imagine the courage, fortitude and sacrifice the people of Britain made to defend their homeland from Nazi aggression! Hopefully, may God continue to bless the UK. Carry on!

  • @techsilver7761
    @techsilver7761 Год назад +9

    We have them on surviving buildings in Germany too. White arrows pointing to raid shelters, emergency exits, aid stations and such. Most commonly accompanied by "LSR" for "Luftschutzraum" (air raid shelter) or "NA" for "Notausstieg" (emergency exit). Exciting to see that such markings still exist in England too!

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад

      Where in Deutschland?

    • @techsilver7761
      @techsilver7761 Год назад

      @@m42037 Basically in all cities that still have some pre-war buildings. I live in a smaller city near Nürnberg, you see those markings every now and then, usually on brick or sandstone facades. Just keep your eyes open, like Dr Felton said :)

    • @e-curb
      @e-curb Год назад +1

      It's too bad you can't post a photo in the comments section here. People like you could show everyone around the world the signs in your local area.

  • @TM-yn4iu
    @TM-yn4iu Год назад

    It is so intriguing in the fact that evidence of the past is all around. Much appreciated! In the past I've walked through old neighborhoods, abandoned buildings and even train stations in effort to understand/feel the moments before....

  • @TheKulu42
    @TheKulu42 Год назад +5

    Yet another educational video! I never knew about these signs before today, and I'm amazed that so many survive today. We have a " ghost sign" at our local courthouse. It's a Fallout Shelter sign from the Cold War.

  • @mitchmatthews6713
    @mitchmatthews6713 Год назад +1

    "Graffiti" that hopes we will never forget The Greatest Generation. Thank you, Mark.

  • @rockymountainlifeprospecti4423
    @rockymountainlifeprospecti4423 Год назад +6

    Growing up next to military bases, one being near DC. We had the air raid warning sirens that would be tested monthly, always a eerie feeling and sound. Wish we still had them, keep people aware of how fast things can change, and all entitlement can disappear in a second.

    • @clavius5734
      @clavius5734 Год назад +1

      In the Netherlands we still have them, and they’re tested on the first monday of every month at 12:00 precisely.

    • @pavelcerny9803
      @pavelcerny9803 Год назад

      @@clavius5734 Same, here in the Czech Republic, especially in smaller villages (mine included too), the WW2 sirens are still used and every first Wednesday of the month at 12:00 the sirens are tested with a 140 second non-wavering test tone (the actual warnings are given with a wavering tone).

  • @ronaldhowdeshell8628
    @ronaldhowdeshell8628 Год назад

    As a historian, you are aware of the saying about forgetting history. Your videos are a wonderful way to remind us of those dark and violent days. Hopefully, signs like these will never be needed again.

  • @Vincent-ow9lj
    @Vincent-ow9lj Год назад +13

    It's not just the things you see that remind you of WW2, but also items that are missing, like most iron railings by public buildings and peoples front gardens which were removed to help the war effort and never replaced.

    • @michaelbaker2465
      @michaelbaker2465 Год назад +3

      Missing iron railings are common in the UK. I saw one recently with a nearby sign explaining why it was missing, and the added comment that much of the iron removed was not used.

    • @Hovercraftltd
      @Hovercraftltd Год назад +1

      ​@@michaelbaker2465 Yes, understand it was nearly always unsuitable for melting down for war machines, presumably dumped. Soon after war ended the demand ceased and the good stuff being cut up like the top notch german artillery in Jersey fortifications was dumped at sea! Jersey would otherwise have remained the most protected island in the World

  • @MyDogFulton
    @MyDogFulton Год назад +2

    This is beyond cool and important history right under our nose. Thanks Dr. Felton!

  • @stephenloy3535
    @stephenloy3535 Год назад +7

    Fascinating.On a trip to Poland,there are remnants everywhere,Germany as well,if you know what to look for.The occasional Autobahn mileage marker,buildings with shrapnel nicks in the plaster,and in the countryside,sometimes bunkers,etc.

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад

      Where in Poland Warsaw?

    • @stephenloy3535
      @stephenloy3535 Год назад

      @@m42037 ,some,but also Wroclaw,Krakow,Gdansk,and many places in the east.There are also parts of the 1938 German Oder River fortifications,perfectly preserved

  • @coreydarr8464
    @coreydarr8464 Год назад +1

    Thank you Mark! Have great month of May!

  • @brianjschumer
    @brianjschumer Год назад +3

    We have an apt in Duesseldorf Germany as my wife is from there. There is an aerodrome outside of district 4, which is now hosts some lower rent housing and one old tower left had laundry hanging. First time in Aachen Germany, driving up a few streets, my shock, as dead end was blocked off by dragons teeth. Lots of war memories in these places too

  • @robert-trading-as-Bob69
    @robert-trading-as-Bob69 Год назад

    An excellent video, well produced, to bring the reality of wartime Britain to the generations that followed.

  • @johninarizona4917
    @johninarizona4917 Год назад +4

    Always a great learning experience. A view from the other side, my mother was born and raised in Bremerhaven Germany during the war. Being a port they were bombed by the Allies on multiple occasions. My Grandmother would tell my mother and my mothers brothers that if there was an air raid while they were in school, that instead of running to the shelter they were to run home so that they could die together as a family. Seems kind of harsh, but I guess war does strange things to people.

  • @petersurdo4984
    @petersurdo4984 Год назад +1

    Living history is fascinating. Great job Dr. F.

  • @donbrearley3148
    @donbrearley3148 Год назад +5

    One of my favorite parts of my day is seeing a fresh video drop from Mark. If I dont get that intense intro music and intense stare from Dr. Felton, my day doesnt seem right. Thanks again for another excellent one, you have done so much for furthering the conversation on many of these topics, and your videos assist me in sounding smart with my peers around the office! You keep making em, I'll keep watching.

  • @theblackhand6485
    @theblackhand6485 Год назад +2

    Very good. Very good indeed. Thank you.

  • @martinh4982
    @martinh4982 Год назад +9

    The (now demolished) Pirelli factory near me had the outlines of houses painted on to the walls. The idea being that if the Luftwaffe were on a bombing run, they might mistake the factory for houses and not bomb it.

    • @ronniel5941
      @ronniel5941 Год назад +4

      The same at Barr and Stroud’s factory at Anniesland, Glasgow. Remained like that for many years, but now superseded by a Morrison’s supermarket.

  • @jamesberton7947
    @jamesberton7947 Год назад

    Leave it to Mark to bring out these small stories of WWII that go unnoticed

  • @alangrant5278
    @alangrant5278 Год назад +6

    Hard to tear myself away from my phone when I’m glued to your fascinating stories Mark. But I try not to watch when I’m out of the house. My mum was born in north London in 1931 and grew up during the war. The sound of the sirens gives me chills and not in a good way. She could never stand thunder. So shared some stories but not many. Your work helps me fill in the blanks now she isn’t around. She didn’t like to go there. Thanks.

  • @Willigula
    @Willigula Год назад

    Dr. Felton, thank you for another great video!

  • @MreViewer
    @MreViewer Год назад +4

    Excellent episode Dr. I grew up around Deptford in the 1950's and remember my old Mum telling me of her many frightening experiences during WW2 in that area

    • @ianwatts8446
      @ianwatts8446 Год назад +1

      Im sure she would have remembered one of the worst bombing incidents on London that happen in that area..the V2 rocket that hit Woolworths on the New Cross Rd..killed 168, Iceland's is at the location now there's a couple of signs on the wall in memory..

  • @bendewet1057
    @bendewet1057 Год назад

    WOW!!
    Dr. Feldman, how very interesting!!
    Thank you very much for this!

  • @davidlogansr8007
    @davidlogansr8007 Год назад +11

    Automatically likes!

  • @benprewitt4600
    @benprewitt4600 Год назад

    Could this be the best Mark Felton video? I daresay YES.

  • @robg5958
    @robg5958 Год назад +4

    I grew up in Belfast in the 1960s and I remember playing on bomb sites and in old abandoned air raid shelters. One particular area of open ground had two huge mounds of earth and for us kids it was like playing on mountains. As an adult I found out that the mounds were made from the rubble of over twenty bombed houses. Also, it was quite common to see huge gaps in terraced houses where homes had simply been wiped out. Even up until the 1980s Belfast still bore the scars from it's Blitz in May 1941.

    • @e-curb
      @e-curb Год назад +2

      That's very interesting. I didn't know that Northern Ireland was included in the Blitz. Perhaps Dr. Felton could do a video documenting this sub-theatre?

    • @lesleybarclay3085
      @lesleybarclay3085 Год назад +1

      Belfast had more deaths from Nazi bombing in one night than any city outside London. Many people seem to think that Belfast was outside the range of the bombers, a friend of mine always used to say that he wished that someone had told his mother, then she wouldn’t have had to take him into the the hills round Belfast every night for safety. Other people I know were evacuated to small towns and villages to live with strangers and avoid the bombing.

  • @fordfairlane662dr
    @fordfairlane662dr Год назад +2

    This is so interesting that these signs still exists...love this channel 💞

  • @thEannoyingE
    @thEannoyingE Год назад +6

    I love finding this kind of stuff, though it’s not as common in the US, it’s still around. For example, our post office, built in 1936, still has remnants of a large air raid siren system, above the chimney. The fire departments also still haven them intact in their towers.

  • @nathanielkhoom6043
    @nathanielkhoom6043 Год назад +1

    That's going to make my cycle around Norwich today way more interesting! Thank you for taking the time to make such informative videos.

  • @SuperHappyTime751
    @SuperHappyTime751 Год назад +9

    i live in the new cross area and have done for many years and rather shocked to say i have never noticed these signs before, i would love to see them restored with a sign explaining the history behind them

    • @thomasstone1363
      @thomasstone1363 Год назад +3

      I pass the one in Deptford market yard everyday and have always assumed it was stylised graffiti 😂

    • @frostyfrost4094
      @frostyfrost4094 Год назад +1

      I think it would be a great idea a reminder of those who lived for tomorrow so we could live today

    • @leehall8830
      @leehall8830 Год назад +1

      Several in and around lewisham and deptford. The faded shelter sign in lewisham way is my fave and a really faded one on the Lee high Rd 😃

    • @e-curb
      @e-curb Год назад

      Better yet, leave them as they are. They are only original once.

  • @jasondowling7361
    @jasondowling7361 Год назад +1

    Perfect line, raise your head up from smart phone. This was very interesting. Thank you.

  • @spingebill8551
    @spingebill8551 Год назад +6

    Wow WW2 era paint is no joke. Some of those signs look as if they were painted a decade ago, not 3/4 of a century!

  • @rherman9085
    @rherman9085 Год назад +2

    Such an important part of history, I wonder why there isn't a call to restore & preserve them. Great video. Thank you!

  • @foabmoab
    @foabmoab Год назад +4

    It was only a few years ago, when we were driving down the seafront, that I noticed a peculiar thing in the front garden of a large house and peeking over the wall. When I had a closer look on a walk, I realised it was a concrete bunker, with a vision port angled to look down the street. Passed this spot hundreds of times before and never realised it was an old fortification in someone's garden.

  • @DavidJones-oc3up
    @DavidJones-oc3up Год назад +2

    Very interesting and informative. I live in the Czech Republic in what used to be the Sudetenland. You can still see faded LSR for Luftschutzraum with arrows pointing to the cellars of some older buildings.

  • @ggee7391
    @ggee7391 Год назад +7

    There is still a "menu" of oils and lubricants hand painted in the bicycle shelter at St. Georges school in Dersingham Norfolk which was commandeered by the Army [Newfoundlanders] in 1940 [then a new building] and used as a billet to service Tanks. The shelters must have been used as oil store as one section say "returns" The menu describes which oil EP90 etc for engines, gearboxes and tracks.

  • @LightningJackFlash
    @LightningJackFlash Год назад

    Wow, fascinating... Reminders of those terrible times in world's history... Fascinating although I wouldn't want to go back to then... Dr. Felton's yet another fascinating material!! Great admirance!! :)

  • @FiveStringCommando
    @FiveStringCommando Год назад +3

    For many years, a neighborhood post office (across the pond in Raleigh, NC; Hayes Barton neighborhood) had maintained their air raid siren for use as a tornado warning siren. Unfortunately, it had been removed about 20 years ago I remember seeing it as a child in the 1980s. My granddad would talk about its use in the 1940s, and consequently about how loud it was. I only heard it sound once during a test in the 1990s.

    • @anonymousm9113
      @anonymousm9113 Год назад +3

      Fort Benning has at least one, on Sand Hill where Infantry training takes place. It's tested every Saturday and there's no escaping the noise.

    • @m42037
      @m42037 Год назад +1

      Why was it removed, tornadoes are real not temporary like war

  • @codymr1974
    @codymr1974 Год назад +1

    I love the guy at 05:23: "Right, out of the way everyone, let me just move this unexploded bomb out of the rubble... Then off for a pint."

  • @TheGMan.
    @TheGMan. Год назад +3

    That was some quality lead paint they used back then.

  • @randommadness1021
    @randommadness1021 Год назад

    Love how you showed an iron fence at the end, the amount of people who don't notice the cut away metal that was needed for the war absolutely astonishes me. People need to remember... Lest We Forget.

  • @doctorsechs
    @doctorsechs Год назад +5

    Dr. Felton could probably find a piece of metal on the street and connect it to WW2 somehow lol

  • @jovanweismiller7114
    @jovanweismiller7114 Год назад +1

    Thank you, Dr Felton. My Mum & my Gran lived through the Blitz. Despite their stories, I agree, it is difficult to wrap one's head around what they went through.

  • @RetroCat31
    @RetroCat31 Год назад +21

    Hi Mark, have you ever done a video about Gustav Schwarzenegger? Arnold Schwarzenegger's father?

    • @Getssumfreedom
      @Getssumfreedom Год назад +2

      Yessss

    • @soon2bsaint680
      @soon2bsaint680 Год назад +3

      What about him bro?

    • @brianjschumer
      @brianjschumer Год назад

      ​@@soon2bsaint680 Admitted big time, Nazi Sympathizer

    • @thejock8580
      @thejock8580 Год назад +4

      ​@Soon2BSaint he was a German Soldier in WWII, fought in Lenningrad

    • @soon2bsaint680
      @soon2bsaint680 Год назад +1

      @@thejock8580 ahhh thx bro!

  • @tionghwitan846
    @tionghwitan846 Год назад

    Thank you Dr Felton for this video. It feels heavy looking at the signs even during the modern day...

  • @Pesmog
    @Pesmog Год назад +4

    Single letter alphabetical markings unsurprisingly still continue in the military as well. The USAF 100th Air refueling wing at RAF Mildenhall in the UK still use their WW2 tail markings and each of their KC-135's has a black & white Square 'D' on the tail, even though letters of the alphabet for other USAF squadrons is long retired. This is carried over to the base control tower, where there is still a massive freshly painted square 'D' on the brickwork and there are various other D's scattered around the site. I believe I read somewhere that they are the only USAF squadron anywhere that still retains its WW2 tail markings.

  • @motorTranz
    @motorTranz Год назад

    Thank you for another fascinating bit of history Dr. Felton!

  • @matthewhendy5785
    @matthewhendy5785 Год назад +5

    Greetings Dr Felton! I live in Portsmouth and also here there are quite a few reminders of the War around, such as ‘SWS’ signs painted around the city. For those wondering it stands for ‘Static Water Supply’

  • @chasc301
    @chasc301 Год назад

    Sat in her house as a very young child my mother was swiftly picked up by her grandfather and carried to the garden Anderson shelter. He was a Great War veteran and heard the first of a stick of bombs being dropped across Leicester by a lone German bomber. His reaction was swifter than the other, younger, adults who had not experienced war first hand at that point. I have a photo of her stood with two German POWs who after the war were employed to remove that very shelter. An excellent video Dr Felton. Thank-you.