Clapham and Wandsworth in the Blitz

The modern borough of Wandsworth dominates huge swathes of South-West London. It extends from the Thames at Putney and Wandsworth Town south to incorporate Tooting, where it meets Wimbledon. From Clapham in the east, bordering Lambeth, the western boundaries are as far away as Roehampton and Kingston Vale. During the German air raids it was often on the periphery of attacks on its eastern neighbours, Lambeth, Southwark, Bermondsey, all south of the Thames, and Westminster, Holborn, The City and the Docklands boroughs to the north of the river. When the Luftwaffe did come calling in Wandsworth, they really meant it; 1,207 civilian deaths through the various phases of the Blitz are testimony to this. This figure is only second to Lambeth in terms of those civilians who perished. There were many minor isolated incidents where a handful of civilians were killed, but there were major incidents, most notably the tragedy of the Balham tube station shelter bombing, where many were killed, providing the world with one of the iconic photographs of the war. This book tells the story of Wandsworth during the years 1940 to 1944 using personal accounts and archive material.