VIDEO: Inside Portland Square air raid shelter
A VIDEO tour inside the Portland Square air raid shelter has
been added to the video sharing website YouTube.
The 13-minute footage gives a unique view inside the
shelter, which is now beneath the University of Plymouth's
newest developments and is marked by a new memorial.
The shelter saw the largest single loss of civilian life in
Plymouth when at least 76 civilians were killed as the
underground shelter took a direct hit from a German bomb on the
night of April 22, 1941, at the height of the Blitz.
32 Comments
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by Catherine, Plymouth
Friday, August 08 2008, 9:30PM
“I have been lucky enough to view the shelter that Tony comments on, it is a real pity it wasn't left as close to original as poss, but the real tragedy will come if plans go ahead to extend further across the remaining piece of Portland Square, taking out a dozen or so valuable trees and remaining land that was the square, as this piece of land is hidden from the main road, alot of people do not realise it is still there, it will not remain if the powers that be have their way, it is vital that this remaining piece of Plymouth's history remains in tact, serving as a living memorial to the dead of the war, and a tribute to the survivors, please lend your voice to ensure it is not swallowed up by more of the concrete jungle we already have”
by Catherine, Plymouth
Friday, August 08 2008, 9:25PM
“I have been lucky enough to visit the shelter Tony comments on, its a great pity that the shelter wasn't left as close to orginial as poss, what is the greater tragedy is that if proposed plans go ahead to invade even more on to Portland Square, taking out valuable trees and history that belongs to everyone in Plymouth, this small remaining site should allowed to remain a living memorial to the dead and a tribute to the survivors, please add your voice to save it”
by C, Plymouth
Monday, July 14 2008, 8:37AM
“There's a shelter under Weston Mill Primary School, but unfortunately they covered it over.”
by Tony, Plymouth
Saturday, July 12 2008, 10:06AM
“I'd like to echo sw's comments and also recommend the other local history site of http://www.plymouthdata.info/
run by Brian Moseley. Both Steve and Brian have vested innumerable hours of their own time in bringing local history to you - all absolutely free.”
by sw, plymouth
Thursday, July 10 2008, 6:00PM
“Just a word about Steve's website at www.cyberheritage.com. I have spent hours trawling through this fascinating archive and would like to thank Steve publicly for the enormous effort he must have put into assembling it. It is quirky, chaotic and in parts very personal to Steve, bu to anyone from around here it is endlessly fasinating. I urge anyone with an iterest in the recent fhistory of Plymouth to visit but please, not at the same time! Because it is Steve's personal websit, it can't cope with large amounts of traffic at the same time. I hasten to add that I don't know Steve, and he's never heard of me. I just love his website (especially the Vandike Club section, but that's another story...)
Thanks, Steve!”