If you happen to be walking in London, you might come across unusual fences with a “crook” in various parts of the city, especially the older ones. The thick wrought iron fences seem to run crooked at certain intersection as if not constructed evenly. You’ll be surprised to know that these crooked fences aren’t crooked at all and were made with a purpose. These fences stand testimony to a dark period of war and have an interesting but sad background story.
Many of the London’s crooked fences are uniform in structure and size. They are so old that the black paint is flaking and coming off. But!! What exactly are these fences and why do they have two “crooks” towards the end of the sections. The thing is these weren’t fences at all. They were something else used for a valid purpose during World War II.
Image Source: www.stretcherrailings.com
What you may actually be passing isn’t a fence but a stretcher used for casualties in war. The stretchers make the regular buildings part of the historical fabric of the city. Now conservationists are pushing for their identification, acknowledgement and preservation. Recently BBC’s Jim Wheble took to the streets to explain to people what these crooks in the railings meant. When passersby learned of their city’s history lying right beneath their eyes, they were amazed and fascinated.
Image Source: www.bbc.com
Wheble explained why the fences look the way they do. They were not built to be railings at all but stretchers to meet the expected increase in fatalities during World War II.
Image Source: theminorityreportblog.com
During the initial months of the war, Germany dominated the skies in number and air technology. France quickly fell in spite of being assisted by British expeditionary forces. After Dunkirk, the British soon realized they would have to concentrate on defending their country as the German war machine lay fully mobilized just across the English Channel.
Image Source: www.cbc.ca
The British had just about 8000 aging aircraft consisting of Spitfires, mosquito bombers and Lancaster bombers. The battle of Britain was about to begin and it would be fought predominantly in the skies. On the ground, the administration and associated agencies geared up to meet the terrible expectation of a huge number of casualties that would result from the London Blitzkrieg or the incessant bombing of London.
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Ian Kikuchi, a historian of the imperial war museum said that at the time, authorities were expecting more than 100,000 casualties in the very first months of the war. Although that wasn’t the case, still the devastation unleashed in London in the Blitz was tragic. But!! What the British lacked for in skill, they made up for in determination and resolve.
Germany could not demoralize Britain whose people on the ground responded with tears and guts while the humble and valiant spitfire would go on to win the aerial battle of the skies. Here’s how these crooked railings stand testament to that unflinching spirit of the Briton during the war.
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Almost 600,000 metal stretchers were produced thinking that there would be innumerous casualties from feared gas attacks. The stretchers would be used for wounded soldiers. However, the production ended up in a surplus and instead of behind discarded were used as railings in various parts of the city like the image you see below.
Image Source: www.standard.co.uk
The metal structures were used across Britain mainly in south and east London. These stretcher railings are identified by a curved bar running along a fence which was used as the handle for the stretcher. The odd curve found on every pole was designed so that the stretchers remained a couple of inches off the ground. Besides soldiers, the stretchers were also meant for civilians. The smaller segments of the fences were used for wounded for children.
Image Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Ironically these iron stretchers were produced by scrapping steel fences used on London’s streets. The metal mesh and crook were left in placer and welded in sequences across the same streets they were sourced from. The biggest problem in preserving this part of history is that even government agencies weren’t aware of their significance. When a set of railings were removed near east Dulwich it caught the notice of the architectural conservationist Rosie Shaw who founded the Stretcher Railing Society. It was the local council who gave the order to remove the railings because of the rust and damage.
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The society has been successful in gaining cooperation from the council who has decided to catalogue the locations of the stretcher railings. Shaw hopes that English Heritage a registered charity will be able to use that list to help preserve a very prominent and significant memorial of Britain’s wartime history.
Image Source: www.southwarknews.co.uk