Imagine if they had done to us what we did to Berlin
Indeed there was much damage and destruction, but when you look at the photograph above, taken about 1938, and which streets remain today (ie most of them), perhaps it could have been worse.
If you look at footage of Berlin just after the war there were hardly any buildings remaining.
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Hide AdTo get your bearings, apart from the top right hand triangle, everything in the lower part of the picture is south of the railway line from Fratton to Portsmouth & Southsea stations.
In the top left hand corner is the Guildhall. In the bottom left hand corner is St Matthew’s Church in Fawcett Road.
Just above the roof of the church and to the right is the rooftop of the Embassy ballroom.
Just below the right hand corner can be seen Fratton Bridge with the Fratton Hotel prominent in black.
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Hide AdThe road running from the hotel to St Matthew’s Church is the length of Fawcett Road.
•Linda Sait (née Uniacke) is trying to identify the man in the second.
He was a lodger with her grandmother about 1950. She was Mary Jane Rustell and lived in the South Street area of Gosport. He is seen here with Linda’s sister Dorothy. Linda says: ‘He was very popular with the family at that time but no one seems to now remember who he was. I would be very grateful for any help.’