Southend & South Essex History with Chris

Remembering those who served & died in the Pacific Theatre during WW2 on VJ-Day.

Here is Raven Gates, Chalkell Park, Southend, built in honour of W/O R. Raven who died building the Thailand-Burma Railway. Past the gates is the Burma Star rose garden, still there today.

On 10th August 991 The Battle of Maldon takes place between ealdorman Byrhtnoth & (possibly) Olaf Tryggvason. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Byrhtnoth is overcome by pride & loses the day to the Viking force. King Æthelred pays off the Vikings following the battle: the first example of the Danegeld.

“There they stood ready against the ferocious one,
Byrhtnoth & his warriors. He ordered them
to form a shield-wall with their shields & for the army
to hold fast against their foes. Then was the fighting near,
glory in battle. The time was coming
that fated men must fall there” - The Battle of Maldon

Byrhtnoth was allegedly killed by a poisoned spear. After this, many of his Essex men left the battle; his loyal house carls fought & died by his remains. The fighting was so fierce that the Vikings did not sack Maldon.

Read the full poem at: https://buff.ly/3d0sBV1

Images:
1. Byrhtnoth statue, Maldon
2. Byrhtnoth, All Saints Church, Maldon

Personally, I’m a big fan of Steve Lawes Arts Anglo-Saxon themed work on the multi-storey car park. Plenty of nods to our shared local history and heritage, too!
If you’re not a fan, hey ho, art is subjective, but I for one love it! Well done Steve! 🤠

The Anglo Saxon History of Southend and Essex
By Steve Lawes
With help from Scotty Brave. Artist .🇬🇧 🇬🇾 , Dan Luckin and Flipping Zombies Illustration

2026

A 16.25in B.L Gun alongside a 6pdr. Hotchkiss, Shoeburyness Garrison, 1880s 😎

Here’s one for those who enjoy their transport history!

Open Day on 2nd August

Shameful to see Southchurch Hall in such a dilapidated condition today. The 800 year old Manor House is a gem in Southend, and it’s tragic to see that the museum service and wider council have allowed it to fall into disrepair. That’s on top of previous concerns raised regarding damp, slumping, and the roofing. The team who are supposed to be guardians of our shared heritage ought to be ashamed.
Project Southchurch

A delightful Edwardian postcard of ‘The Broadway’, featuring the Hotel Victoria.

Today in 1944 the first V1 rocket was launched against the UK. In all, approximately 6,725 were launched, killing 5,475 deaths and wounding 16,000.

Below is a map of V1 impacts in the Essex and Thames estuary area. Of note are the number of impacts in the estuary between Foulness Island and the Blackwater.

This is partly due to the Maunsell Forts operating anti-aircraft guns in the estuary area, namely Nore (U5), Red Sands (U6), and Shivering Sands (U7). These forts shot down no fewer than 30 V1 rockets!

In Southend on 5th June 1944 residents saw an estuary full of ships and barrage balloons filling the skies. Some recounted how there was no space between the vessels there were so many of them. The next day, they were gone. Operation Neptune (D-Day) had begun.

Among the vessels was the Sambut (below), a liberty ship ferrying 1,000 troops, ammunition, 137 vehicles and fuel to Normandy on D-Day, when she was hit by a long range battery. Two shells landed amidship. She sank at Goodwin Sands. Three crew and some troops were killed.

After D-Day approximately 130 ships per day left HMS Leigh (Southend pier, below) bound for the landing zone, sending troops and matériel for the Allied armies liberating German occupied Europe. By the wars end 3,367 convoys and 84,000 ships embarked from HMS Leigh.

82 years on from the Normandy Landings it’s important to remember the role played by the area and how it contributed to D-Day and the Normandy Campaign.

On 10 May (yesterday) 1915 Southend was subjected to its first air raid, conducted by zeppelin LZ38 (under Hauptmann Eric Linnarz). One person, Agnes Whitwell (aged 60), was killed in her bed by a falling incendiary bomb.

LZ38 approached Southend from the estuary, hovering over the prison ships moored off the pier. It then passed over the high street where it hovered over Cobweb Corner, dropping a high explosive bomb bomb.

On duty was Special Constable William Ledicott at a quarter to three in the morning when he saw the zeppelin above Cobweb Corner. He said, […] A moment later the Zeppelin restarted her engines and immediately a bomb was dropped. It fell in the centre of the road, where it made a large hole, but failed to explode. Then another fell on London Road. It was of the incendiary type, and I ran up and put it out. […]”

Some 80 bombs were dropped over the Southend area. All told the raid caused some £5,000 in damage and destruction, including Mr. Flaxman’s timber yard, Cromwell House, as well as the Technical College.

There were no anti-aircraft measures in place, and the events of 10 May led to local demonstrations and rioting against German businesses.

However, Hauptmann Linnarz dropped a note, that read, “You English. We have come and will come again soon. Kill or cure. German.”

He did indeed return, sixteen days later…

📷 Cromwell House & interior (Manchester Guardian)