Wartime and Recovery
At the outbreak of the Second World War, large areas of the park were given to food growing, both in allotment plots as part of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign, and in agricultural-scale crop production.
Underground air-raid shelters were constructed for use by households neighbouring the park and an Air Raid Precautions regional headquarters was established in a purpose-built annex to Pounds House. An emergency feeding station was set up in a large hut near the bowling greens and a gun emplacement installed above the park’s southern slopes.
United States troops started to be billeted in Devon and Cornwall from 1943 and a food store was established next to the Home Park football stadium. A hutted camp was built on Alma Road next to Upper Knollys Terrace and used subsequently to house prisoners captured during the final stages of the war. They were employed on house building programmes after the war, including prefabs in Central Park, until the final repatriation in 1948.
These maps show where the wartime features were located:
- Defensive installations
Plymouth had many defences against enemy bombing and the threat of invasion. In Central Park, an anti-aircraft battery was situated where the sports plateau is today… Read more: Defensive installations - Hutted camp on Alma Road
A hutted camp was established on the eastern side of Alma Road just to the north of Upper Knollys Terrace. The layout and shapes in this… Read more: Hutted camp on Alma Road - Air Raid Precautions control buildings
The Town Clerk in 1940, Colin Campbell, had the added responsibility of being the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) controller. When bombed out of the municipal offices… Read more: Air Raid Precautions control buildings - Air raid shelter in Central Park takes a direct hit
There were at least four public air raid shelters built in the park to protect local residents from the Blitz. They were cut into the ground… Read more: Air raid shelter in Central Park takes a direct hit - Emergency feeding station
By 1942, the central cooking depots established at Torr House, Crownhill and Laira Schools had become very unsatisfactory, and an increasing number of meals were needed… Read more: Emergency feeding station - US Navy food store
In 1943, the US Navy established a forward operating base in Plymouth to support the ships that would take troops across the English Channel to fight… Read more: US Navy food store - Prisoner of War Camp
A 2003 English Heritage study records a Prisoner of War camp at Home Park, number 673, although the grid reference is almost certainly incorrect and the… Read more: Prisoner of War Camp - 1946 Ordnance Survey
After the Second World War, there was a pressing need for new maps. Ordnance Survey (OS) surveyors used triangulation points in the country and revision points… Read more: 1946 Ordnance Survey - Prefabs
Over 156,000 temporary bungalows or “prefabs” (abbreviated from prefabricated buildings) were manufactured and erected across the UK between 1945 and 1948 to help with meeting the… Read more: Prefabs - Alma Road pavement set into the park
The Western Evening Herald reported on 25th September 1947 that the Alma Road widening scheme had begun. The condition of this highway had been causing considerable criticism… Read more: Alma Road pavement set into the park - The Nissen hut cafe
Towards the top of this 1949 photo, behind the crowds and to the left of the former clock tower, can be seen the curved roof of… Read more: The Nissen hut cafe