Thames at war, rock art, motorway excavations and more

by byGu Gustav Milne Pen Pen& & Sword Mar 2020 20 £19.99 p pp208 hb isbn 9781526768025 978

During the London blitz of the Second World War, Thames Flood Prevention Emergency Repairs teams worked tirelessly to assess and repair over a hundred bomb strikes to the city’s river walls. In this book Gustav Milne and the Thames Discovery Programme ( tdp) tell the story of the teams and identify their work in surviving structures. It is a perfect case study in the importance and use of documentary sources to aid the investigation, recording and interpretation of ephemeral wartime sites. Much of the research and fieldwork was undertaken by the

tdp’s community of volunteers, further highlighting the importance of local engagement and knowledge in archaeology projects. The book is well illustrated, with many hitherto unpublished photos taken by the Repairs teams in the 1940s, and new ones that highlight the surviving evidence for their achievements. This is a truly untold wartime story and a forgotten aspect of Thames history. Chris Kolonko