A man in England made a discovery recently where he found an underground bunker from World War II in his home where he has lived for the last 40 years.
The air raid shelter was hidden under the lawn of Khandu Patel in his home where he and wife Usha have lived together in Wolverhampton, reported The Sun.
Khandum who has worked as a school caretaker, always wondered what is the role of the manhole cover. The 68- year-old man says that during the lockdown, he and a friend decided to see what is in there and discovered concrete. As per the report, he and the friend dug it down and discovered the air raid shelter.
Sharing his experience of seeing an underground stairway, Khandu said, “We started digging and it became apparent it was a staircase. It was amazing seeing all the steps exposed.” Khandu is now turning this space into a bar for his family. Pictures of the underground bunker show that the place has been transformed by the school caretaker. In the pictures, he can be seen using this newfound space of the home as a bar. The shelter is 5 ft by 10 ft in size.
He has placed a white coloured table into the shelter along with lights. The walls in the pictures look like they have been freshly painted. Talking about the space which will be turned into a bar, Khandu said, “It’s going to be where we can relax and when allowed, have family over.”
According to Khandu’s assumption, the place would have accommodated 40 people in a cramped state. He added, “We reckon most of the street would have used it during the war.” The World War II shelters were created to protect people against enemy air raids during the war. There were mainly three types of shelters used – namely Anderson, Brick-built and Morrison shelters.
As the shelter found by Khandu is present in the lawn, it is believed to be an Anderson shelter designed for use in the garden. This gave protection to people from shell fragments and bomber splinters. However, dampness was a problem that always occurred in this type of shelter.
During World War II, underground stations were also used as shelters to protect the citizens from air raids. It is estimated that 1,70,000 people took refuge in underground station shelters.