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The Crescent in War Time

Artist: Foggie, David Simpson, RSA · 1878-1948

A depiction of the physical effects of the Second World War on the cityscape of Edinburgh, showing the entrance to an underground air -raid shelter in the city's St Bernard's Crescent. At the time the artist was living in the adjacent Danube Street.

The railings and wall footings on either side of the entrance have been painted white to make it more readily seen in the dark.

Largely inspired by their proven efficacy during the Spanish Civil War, many air raid shelters were built in the so-called phoney war period in the lead up to the formal declaration of the Second World War by Britain on Germany on 1939-09-03 following Germany's invasion of Poland.

Edinburgh's Dean of Guild Court approved the erection of the first private air raid shelter for a householder in Blackhall in early June 1938 and by August of that year the first multi-occupancy shelter had opened for the staff of Darling's store beneath their premises at 124-125 Princes Street. The store was owned by former Lord provost William Y Darling who was by 1938 Edinburgh's Chief Air Raid Warden.

The completion of the public trench shelter at St Bernard's Crescent was advertised as complete, with a capacity for 100 persons, in the Edinburgh press of 24 October 1939. Another much larger suite of trenches at West Princes Street Gardens opened at the same time with capacity for 550 persons and further shelters were subsequently opened on East Princes Street Gardens.

Originally constructed by open excavation of a trench the walls and ceiling were protected internally by corrugated metal sheets held in place by timber supports and rafters. Earth and turf was then replaced over the top. In time concrete was used as the main building agent.

The McManus Galleries in Dundee holds an earlier related pastel sketch by David Foggie, 'The Crescent in Wartime', 1939 (224-1978), presented by the artist's son, Neil Foggie, in 1978.