In 2024, artist Grzegorz Stefański created a new film called locusts - an IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund commission in partnership with the Brickworks Museum. In this blog post, the Brickworks Museum team tell us about the inspiration behind the film, the testimonies of local people who remembered the effects of the Second World War on Southampton.

Southampton was a key focus for German bombing raids during the Second World War. Located as it is on the Solent it was easy to find, and, as a busy port plus the home of the Supermarine Spitfire factory, it was a crucial target. Much of the centre of the town was destroyed, leaving substantial areas flattened and very large amount of debris. Apparently, quite a large amount of the rubble was later shipped to New York to provide hardcore for the growing city. 

Once the war was over, the rebuilding began. This story is particularly important for our museum, housed in the only remaining Victorian steam-driven brickworks in the country.  Bricks were made here in the million between 1897 and 1974 including during both world wars.

Chatting with our museum volunteers revealed memories of the Second World War and stories of the rebuilding of Southampton. Their tales revolved around which shop had been destroyed on the High Street, who lived where and why, and playing in bomb sites as children. 

We wanted to get as broad a sweep as possible of local people’s memories, and decided to run a series of focus groups. These were informal discussions that were facilitated by a local oral history consultant and included copious amounts of tea and cake. They included our volunteers, a local history group, a local dementia care group and representatives from five of the key building firms that had helped with the reconstruction. 

The age of our participants meant that only one or two had direct experience of life in the Second World War, but they did remember growing up in Southampton in the 50s and 60s. For those who were children during the Blitz their tales were of a childhood that involved being aware that something devastating was going on, and the way their parents didn’t talk about it. Life just seemed to go on. For all our participants the ‘humungous’ play area that had suddenly appeared was highly appreciated. Bomb sites and bomb craters were a key playground for them and this continued for many years. Bomb sites provided ponds, endless opportunities for den building but also community uses, for example, holding the local firework displays in them. 

Other tales revolved around where they were living. During the Blitz, some families moved out into the New Forest, or onto the Common, and were living in ‘huts’ in relative safety. For others it was a case of living with relatives.  If your house was damaged, then you moved in with your parents or aunts and uncles. For everyone, the need for new housing after the war was important. Although our focus group participants were children at the time, they recognised the need for a family home that wasn’t being shared with others. Overcrowding and a lack of facilities was an issue.

Providing new housing rapidly became the focus for the local authority. They knew that replacing the damaged housing stock and providing new housing was going to be a priority for many years. 

The prefabricated houses that were built straight after the war provided one solution and these proved to be very popular. They were far more modern than the old, terraced back-to-backs and had kitchens with hot and cold water plus private gardens. They became tight knit communities and were still being lived in right through to the 1970s. 

Large areas of what were now considered slums were demolished to make way for new housing. What the Blitz had started the council continued. This apparently caused an initial and unforeseen problem by displacing all the resident vermin which had to be dealt with. The cleared areas were then built on to provide new council housing. This was either new high-rise blocks or the more traditional style low-rise housing. Both used new construction methods, because, although the brick factories were busy making as many bricks as they could, it was impossible to gear up fast enough to cover the demand. The local authorities allocated areas to the various builders who erected the new dwellings as fast as possible. 

Not everyone qualified for a council house and for some the need to repair their own houses was important. Enterprising parents of our participants were busy repairing and taking the opportunity to modernise during the post war period. The key problem that everyone faced was the shortage of building materials. However, there was a lot of salvage, and new reclamation yards sprung up where you could buy materials that had been rescued from the bomb sites.  No one missed the ‘bucket and chuck it’ plumbing arrangements of pre-war life and the new housing was generally felt to be much better than what had been before. Even the tall flats were liked when they were built as they provided both good accommodation and fantastic views.

Following on from the housing the focus moved to the centre of town. The general feeling from all our participants was that this could have been done better. There seemed to be a lack of overall planning for the town with a piecemeal result. The more modern style of buildings came in for criticism and the poor quality of construction. Discussion arose around the desire for some who had lived through the war for a new, more modern approach whilst there was sadness at the loss of the old Edwardian town. 

The demand for bricks helped Bursledon Brick Company expand and during the 1950s it amalgamated with Redland Tiles to become Redland Holdings Ltd. The company was to become a successful supplier to the construction industry over the following years. The site was closed in 1974 and opened as a museum in 2015, telling the story of brickmaking in Britain.

We would like to thank all the individuals who gave their time to share their memories and reflections with us as part of this project.

The fascinating testimonies that we gathered from the Focus Groups directly inspired Grzegorz Stefański's film locusts, in which actors lip synch to the recorded voices. Find out more about this commission here.