Glenelg Air Raid Shelter

Post

Subscribe

Adelaide has a number of air raid shelters, built during World War 2. After the bombing at Darwin, the government of the day became concerned and decided to build at great expense, shelters all over Adelaide. They are about eight located all over Adelaide. One is in Unley right next to the local Town Hall, now painted in a bright mural you would not know what it was in the past. The shelters were built for a communications network, with the head office secretly located in the basement of the Savings Bank of SA in King William St.



The plan was that if Adelaide was to be attacked, top government officers and communications people would be sent directly to the shelters. But the worst never happened. The shelters were never used for the purpose they were built, but they were used by air raid wardens and as emergency supply stores. The buildings were then used by the community or closed up and never used at all after the war.





Now owned and protected by the City of Glenelg after a long history of various owners. It was even once been used as a change room for the football teams playing at nearby Glenelg Oval which backs onto the property.



The air raid shelter at Glenelg is the only one in Adelaide that is open to the public. The deep solid underground bunker now houses a small museum and is open on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Also open ANZAC Day 1-4pm and Remembrance Day November 11th 1-4pm. From the outside, the shelter just looks like a large concrete block above ground, but once you walk down the steep stairs, you are in a man-made underground cave, which is much bigger than it looks from outside.

A visit here is a must if you are interested in local history or war nostalgia. For me, it was a visit more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Take a look at the old photographs and war collectables on display. There are posters with written information about local soldiers and a very grand photograph of a battalion gathered on Mosely Square, with all the local resident and dignitaries there to see them off to war.





There are always some volunteers on duty to tell you the role of the shelter during wartime and they know a lot of local history. This place is worth a look if you are taking a visit to Glenelg or after doing the Glenelg Mansions Walking Tour.

Those interested in local war heroes would enjoy combining an outing here with the Bay To The Battlefield exhibition on until end of November 2018. There is so much more to do in Glenelg than visit the beach. Glenelg is the birthplace of modern Adelaide and there are many stories and secrets spots to learn about.

#things_to_see
#remembrance_day
#places_of_interest
#museums
#history
#historic_houses
#glenelg
#anzac_day
#tourist_attractions
%wnadelaide