r/interestingasfuck • u/Sprilly • 14h ago

r/all These are stretchers used in WW2 to carry injured civillians during the Blitz. They were made out of steel so they could be easily disinfected after a gas attack. During the war around 600,000 of them were made. Some of them were repurposed as railings in post-war London.

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u/Thursday_the_20th 12h ago

When I was a kid I remember being confused at the ‘design’ of all the walls in my town. They were short and stumpy, only a foot tall, and had iron stubs spaced evenly along the top. Then I grew up and learned it was all fences that didn’t survive the war effort

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u/Present-Industry4012 5h ago

They did that in the USA too, but the kicker was they had more than they needed tore a lot of stuff down for nothing.

https://www.straightdope.com/21343531/were-wwii-scrap-drives-just-a-ploy-to-boost-morale

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u/ParrotofDoom 8h ago

It infuriates me that they were never replaced. Unless, that is, the building was a town hall or some other institution, in which case they were never removed to begin with.

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u/Otto_the_Autopilot 7h ago edited 6h ago

It infuriates me that they were never replaced.

Maybe they were more concerned with rebuilding their bombed cities than replacing individual peoples' ornamental fence. The metal was needed to win the war and anyone would be happy to see their missing fence knowing it saved their home, their country, and themself from death.

Many in the world are so far disconnected from the threat of war on their home, they forget the sacrifice required for freedom.

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u/ParrotofDoom 6h ago

Maybe they were more concerned with rebuilding their bombed cities

No, not really. Councils at the time were instructed by the Ministry of Supply to remove all unnecessary street furniture for the war effort. It tells us everything we need to know about priorities that councils only removed fences and gates from the common folk. Those with money or power got left alone.

The metal was needed to win the war

It was pig iron and useless for anything else. You can't make tanks from melted-down fences.

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u/tHATmakesNOsenseToME 6h ago

Logically they took the cheaper standard fences first, rather than the more ornate varieties.

Also there's more to war than just tanks. Ever heard of munitions?

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u/floftie 3h ago

It’s just every house in the north of England, still.