The Anonymous Widower

A Piece of Concrete With a Lot of History

This piece of concrete in the Victoria Town Gardens behind the Palace of Westminster, looks like a very rudimentary and hurried repair.

A Repair to the River Thames Wall

But behind it all is a bit of forgotten history. This picture shows a steel girder, which could be a piece of railway line in the concrete.

Steel Girder in the River Thames Wall

And this shows that the detail on the river side, that is a feature of the Thames river wall is missing.

Missing Details in the River Thames Wall

So what is it all about?

I went to a lunchtime lecture at University College London about archaeology on the River Thames. The lecturer explained that during the Second World War, we identified that a serious break in the wall of the River Thames could have flooded much of the central part of the city.  This would have probably flooded the London Underground as well.

So a top secret repair unit was set up to fix any breakages in the wall immediately. As the lecturer said, even today little is known about the unit.  During the war they kept it quiet, as they didn’t want the Germans to know how vulnerable  London was. After all, the Germans only needed to be lucky once.

But as you can see, even if the repair would not be acceptable today, it has fulfilled its purpose for seventy years.

June 16, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | World | History, London, River Thames, Second World War