Air Raid Damage at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Abstract

THOUGH parts of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, have been damaged on several occasions during recent air raids, the historic Wren building of 1675 remains substantially undamaged and the damage to instrumental equipment has been of a minor nature. The south portico of the Altazimuth pavilion was hit by a high explosive bomb and partly demolished. The Altazimuth instrument had recently been dismantled and a small reversible transit instrument mounted in its place; this was thrown from its mounting and broken in two, but the object glass and impersonal micrometer were undamaged. A personal equation machine had been fitted to the collimator in the south portico; this and the colli-mator objective sustained no damage. Though the main gates were destroyed, the Shepherd 24-hour electric clock, well known to visitors to the Observatory, received only slight damage. The damage to the coverings of the domes has been considerable, but the objectives and mirrors of the principal telescopes, with other valuable equipment, were dismounted and sent away for safety in the early days of the war. The main building, erected at the and of the last century, has received minor damage. The time service provided by the Observatory has been maintained without interruption; alternative Arrangements had been made early in the War to ensure its continuance in the event of damage to the Observatory.