Baldrick takes on the Blitz

[K Frame]

Happened across a really interesting 4-part series called Blitz Street, hosted by Tony Robinson (Baldrick from Black Adder).

Essentially it's a historical overview of the German Blitz on the UK during the early days of World War II, but with an interesting twist...

They've built two sets of Terrace Houses using the the type of materials and construction techniques used to build them in the early 1900s...

Then they set off simulated German bombs in the "street" to see how the buildings reacted.

They also talk with people who lived through the Blitz, most interestingly was an 18 year old professional firefighter.

[230RN]

Happened across a really interesting 4-part series called Blitz Street, hosted by Tony Robinson (Baldrick from Black Adder).

Essentially it's a historical overview of the German Blitz on the UK during the early days of World War II, but with an interesting twist...

They've built two sets of Terrace Houses using the the type of materials and construction techniques used to build them in the early 1900s...

Then they set off simulated German bombs in the "street" to see how the buildings reacted.

They also talk with people who lived through the Blitz, most interestingly was an 18 year old professional firefighter.

Would like a link or excerpts , but just on the face of it, I wonder what their motivation was.  It's not like there isn't plenty of contemporary photo and movie documentation of the effects.  I'm sure the firefighter's comments would be interesting.

Sample:
https://youtu.be/clKxrDza1d8 (2:51)

[K Frame]

Oh crap, I'm sorry, I totally forgot to put the link in.

It's on Utoob...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blitz+street

And here's a 2 minute overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIPwNYhLWsI

[K Frame]

And here's an interesting one, also on the blitz, but with some good photos of air raid sirens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgaCNEQzL1Q

The town I grew up in had a WW II surplus air raid siren that was repurposed as the alert siren for the local fire department. I'm sure that it was also part of the Cold War era civil defense plan.

[230RN]

I still don't get:  why?

Jusr funsies?

Rehearsal for a future movie set?  I note they remarked about "theatrical explosives."

You reinforced my point about the figurative tons of documentation of the real thing.

I know, I know... if you have to explain it, I'll never understand it.

The funsies part I can get my head around.  I love watching Tannerite "experiments" and I'm amused by how everyone laughs like hell after the "experiment."  Same thing, usually, with builiding demolitions.  I give a big guffaw myself.

Watch your sound level.

https://youtu.be/8fyUcKFYyQw (0:35)

https://youtu.be/tpUwiae89UI (11:36)  Long, but can be sampled at random. 

Sometimes there's 37% skill, 37% science, 37% engineering, and 37% damned good luck in demolitions.  This is a famous one, planned this way, where two smokestacks collide with each other on their way down.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34370361

I can't find a "pure" video of it right away, I suspect the original has been licensed out until they wore out its lice.

Terry, 230RN

[WLJ]

A related Mark Felton video
The title will start to make sense about 1/4 of the way into the video

The Bombed British City Beneath New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRoHyzcSa3Y

[K Frame]

" I'll never understand it."

Yep.

[230RN]

So far, nobody's tried to explain it.  I'll let it go as one of the Media Mysteries.

I guess there's no good reason for it whatsoever. 

[K Frame]

Maybe we just don't feel like trying to teach a pig to sing on our Saturday?

How about this...

WATCH a *expletive deleted*ing episode and see if you can, maybe, perhaps, come to your own conclusions about why they did what they did?

They even show some of black and white still photographs that you apparently believe are the path to all knowledge.

 

[230RN]

Maybe we just don't feel like trying to teach a pig to sing on our Saturday?

How about this...

WATCH a *expletive deleted*ing episode and see if you can, maybe, perhaps, come to your own conclusions about why they did what they did?

They even show some of black and white still photographs that you apparently believe are the path to all knowledge.

 

You're not even addressing the question as to why they went through all the expense of building structures equating to real buildings. I shouldn't have to warch long vids to distill an evanescent "why" if I can just ask.

I was thinking maybe it was for rehearsal or training with legal binary explosives, e.g. Tannerite, which, if I recall, are supposed to be mixed and used in no more than 10 lb quantities, used on site, and for theatrical purposes only.  IIRC... there may have been modifications to that since I see all kinds of vids using way more than ten pounds, unless they (other Tannerite, for example, videographers) are licensed by batfE and probably subject to local permitting.

Maybe these guys were licensed, and maybe they weren't, maybe they were using Tannerite, maybe not,but the question of "why" remains.

Why?   

Sorry if you think I "attacked" your post, but I thought what they were doing was totally unnecessary in the light of all the past data on explosives versus buildings (not only in the blitz) and expensive and maybe the videos themselves were produced just as a cover for the sake of the "theatrical purposes" exemption.  So I was looking for some kind of "realistic" explanation.

So forget about why.

Stet.

Terry, 230RN

[Pb]

I was thinking maybe it was for rehearsal or training with legal binary explosives, e.g. Tannerite, which, if I recall, are supposed to be mixed and used in no more than 10 lb quantities, used on site, and for theatrical purposes only.  IIRC... there may have been modifications to that since I see all kinds of vids using way more than ten pounds, unless they (other Tannerite, for example, videographers) are licensed by batfE and probably subject to local permitting.

This is the BBC.  They are in England.  They are not bound by the rules of the BATFE.  The narrator in the Blitz Street video I saw said the bomb had 25 kg of TNT.