The secret life of subterranean shelters
Londoners trying to get comfortable in one of the city's underground stations (Wikimedia Commons)
Today marks the first day of subterranean shelter tours organised by the London Transport Museum. On a 180 steps staircase, participants descend into the Clapham South deep-level shelter as a part of the Hidden London tours.
The Clapham South shelter was one of the eight shelters completed during WWII. Throughout the city, there was a demand for shelters as the Blitz hunted London from 1940 to 1941. However, the shelters were not ready before the Blitz was over, and the government started using them. But in 1944, when bombings became an everyday occurrence again, the shelters were opened to the public.
In addition to the deep level shelters like Clapham South, people build their own Anderson shelters or went to Underground stations to keep safe. Using platforms for shelter was made illegal in 1939 due to concern of disease spreading and overcrowding. But in September 1940, citizens ignored this and flooded the platforms. This made the government change their mind and later that month, the policy was changed to reflect the need for underground sheltering.
Besides keeping Londoners safe during the Second World War, Clapham South was used for housing West Indian immigrants in 1948. Curiously, the 200 immigrants were brought to the United Kingdom on the HMT Empire Windrush, which was a German ship taken as a prize of war after WWII.
