Chelmsford in the Second World War Talk

The aims of Chelmsford Civic Society are to stimulate public interest in and appreciation and care of, the history, appearance and character of Chelmsford e.g. preservation of buildings, history and architecture, river banks, parks and trees, future planning and land use, transport, road and car parking.

Chelmsford Civic Society

Chelmsford in the Second World War; this talk shows how Chelmsford with
its important industries

Patch Chelmsford

Chelmsford in the Second World War; this talk shows how Chelmsford withits important industries – Marconi radar, Hoffman’s ball-bearings andCrompton Parkinson’s electrical works – were vulnerable to targetedLuftwaffe air attack and later random rocket attacks from V1s and V2s.Yet some of the most damaging events came from lone bombers and thechance jettisoning of bombs from damaged aircraft on their return journeyto the continent The town was also in receipt of evacuees from the nearbydockland of East London (and from the less well-known evacuation from thecounty’s coastal towns as invasion loomed) which presented its owneducational and social challenges. Air power was vital in this war. GrammarSchool boys flocked to the RAF and were distinguished by their skill andtheir sacrifice. Chelmsford’s MP 1934-44, Jack Macnamara, was killed onthe Italian front. One of a group of gay MPs who saw in the mid-1930swhat was happening to homosexuals in Dachau concentration camp, he andother like-minded gay men became early supporters of Churchill andrearmament. They were vilified by Neville Chamberlain’s spin doctors as‘Glamour Boys’ but Churchill recognised their bravery and Jack’s ultimatesacrifice.

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