British Pathe: "Bombed Factory - Croydon (1940)"

 The British Pathe website of black and white films contains one called “Bombed Factory – Croydon 1941?”, which you can view by clicking here.

It takes two minutes and three seconds to view but in that time the camera crew take up 14 different positions, typically only shooting about six seconds of film in each one so it is a little disorientating on first viewing.  You can slow down the film to one-quarter of the speed by clicking on the three vertical dots in the bottom right of the film and selecting playback speed.  But what are you witnessing?

It’s Thursday 15^th August 1940, probably about 8pm in the evening of what had been a sunny day.  What we know call the Second World War was less than a year old but in that time Germany had over-run first Poland, then Denmark and Norway, then the Netherlands and Belgium and finally – unimaginably – France.  The British army had been evacuated from Dunkirk but without the tanks and artillery essential to compete with the German army.  The fight for control of the air space over southern Britain, the potential invasion landing grounds, was now beginning.

We’re a few hundred yards from the perimeter of RAF Croydon, the transformed main civilian airport in London.  Starting at 6.50pm and ending about 10 minutes later, the RAF station had been dive-bombed by up to 20 Messerschmitt 110s.  Intentionally or otherwise, factories nearby were bombed as well, and this is what the film shows.

The film starts just off of Stafford Road.  After panning rapidly in the first two seconds, the camera settles with a view south along Princes Way (Camera Position 1).  The set of four steps is notable in the foreground and these can be matched to the following street view (from 2012 as it is the clearest view, but still there today):

Note two-thirds of the steps have been covered with a ramp to allow vehicles access.  This building survives from the National Aircraft Factory, the first building on the site in 1917 and the steps led up to the platform for a railway line which would have run north along Kingsway and across Stafford Road to join the existing line.

The fire engine in the Pathe film would have been parked roughly where the van is in the 2012 view.

The building on the left of Princes Way in 1940 makes a contrast to the back of the Amazon depot we see today – this was the Hatcham Rubber Company.

After 8 seconds, the camera moves to the other side of Princes Way (Camera Position 2), approximately level with Camera Position 1 and facing south.  On the left of the frame, we can see the sign “Goods Entrance” by the doorway to Hatcham’s.

After 15 seconds we move along Princes Way, towards the smoke we have been looking at in the distance.  This is impossible to recreate exactly from Google Streetview because the camera was close to the buildings on the right of the street and the only pictures are from the left side.

The modern reveals that just around the corner to the right, out of camera shot in the 1940 film was the distinctive front of Bourjois House, the makers of soap and perfume, and very little changed to this day.

The building to the immediate right of the camera in 1940 was a store for the Central Electricity Generating Board.  Ahead and to the left is a parked car and just to the right what appears to be a public shelter for air raids, designed as a small, temporary shelter for those caught out in the open.  Behind that we see smoke and rubble, and in the distance a much taller structure looms; this is the back of C Hangar which fronted on to the airfield itself.  The end we can see housed Rollason’s Aircraft Services and the hanger stretched off to the left to Purley Way; that end housed Redwing Aircraft.

Noted the injured woman with two supporters moving from right to left (17 to 20 seconds into the film) probably someone injured at Bourjois.

After 24 seconds the camera advances about ten yards further forwards (Camera Position 4, approximated below taken from 2017).

We can now clearly see that on the opposite side of the street, a substantial building has been wrecked; this is the factory of the British NSF Company, makers of electrical components.  At 28 seconds the camera starts to pan left and at 29 seconds we see the street sign for Queens Way and behind that the extent of the destruction with the first intact parts of the factory not visible until the film reaches 32 seconds.

At 35 seconds the camera moves to the left of the previous one, crossing Princes Way and into Queens Way.

Notably the triangular roofs on the left side of the 1940 film still survive; these were part of the 1917 National Aircraft Factory.

The camera then crosses Queensway and seems to be standing among damaged cars on the street, roughly where the cars are parked in the modern view above.  The camera focuses on a damaged car, then pans left to show three men in a group, which then breaks up and we see the shock on the face of one young man (RAF?).  As the camera continues to pan to the left we see the rest of the undamaged factory running the length of Queens Way to purely Way.  In 1940 this would have been occupied by Bowater’s who had corrugated cardboard and cardboard boxes; they are responsible for Merlin House, the art deco style offices facing onto Purley Way. 

The two chimneys confused me initially as I thought they were the power station (at modern day IKEA) which would mean this photo was facing north.  However, a 19139 aerial view shows two chimneys on the roof of Bowaters and we can also align with the white houses in the distance on Purley Way – the distinctive sloping roof just visible in 1940 has been lost due to an extension in the last few years, but using Google Streetview’s 2012 image the original can be seen:

Back in 1940, the camera then takes up three positions within the wrecked NSF factory.  At 69 seconds the camera returns outside to show firemen setting up a hose but there is no clue to the exact location.

At 86 seconds the camera moves again and shows a man pushing his bike over a maze of water hoses for fire-fighting.  This seems to be back in Princes Way at the side of Bourjois, looking north and hence back towards the position where the film started:

The camera then goes back into the wreckage of the British NSF factory, coming back to the road for the final sequence, starting at 112 seconds.  We seem to be in Princes Way at the side of Bourjois but looking south towards the RAF airfield.