Off Licences

Changing the subject, I can remember playing on building sites, in the evening, when I was a kid, great fun.

Maybe I should start a new thread

 

Didn't think there was that much Zeppelin bombing in WW1

 

Fortunately Wigan wasn't bombed in WW2, except for odd bombs being offloaded by the Luftwaffe on returning from Liverpool. But in World War 1, a Zeppelin actually dropped several bombs on Wigan, killing one or two people. The commander of the L61 Zeppelin wrote in his log book that he had bombed Sheffield which is 60 miles away! No Sat-Nav in them days.

 

Thats true @HarryS I know one was dropped on the Methodist Church in Greenough Street on Sept. 5th 1940 just after choir practice. There was another in Scholes as well. The aftermath of that could still be seen in the early 1960's.

What always seems strange to me is that midway between Liverpool and Manchester was a US Air Force base (Army Air Corps back then). It was the biggest in Europe, yet the Luftwaffe never bombed it... The moral? Never get a map printed in Germany.

 

They had a few bombs on maidstone, but I think it was mostly down to the bombers dumping bombs on the way back.
One of the railways stations was wrecked by a V1, and I worked for years in an old building over the road, the roof was always crooked, and the story was the blast shifted it.

Personally I think it was just badly built.

 

I think by the time the yanks turned up the Germans had changed to bombing cities and factories attacking military bases seemed to be off the agenda.
Could be wrong.

 

The old phrase "jerry built" comes to mind!

 

The base I mentioned was in the hands of the RAF from its opening on Jan 1st 1940 until the Americans started to arrive in 1942. I'm a bit shakey on this, but I'm almost certain the blitzws on Liverpool and Manchester ended either May or June 1941.

 

Americans entered the war after Pearl Harbour on the 7th Dec 1941.
So I wouldn't have thought they started arriving here until 1942 ish.

 

The American WWII base was Burtonwood near Warrington, it was absolutely enormous. All the war materiel's arriving in Liverpool were marshaled there. It was still operational until 1991.

 

Bought myself a Lowenbrau as a treat for me, at the grocery today. Buying beer and wine in a grocery store is fairly new for us. Then I got home and put it with the other 4 I already have in the refrigerator!

Oh well, being at the grocers, it can join the extra cans of tuna I keep buying