Day 641

During WWII every family was encouraged to build an Anderson shelter in their back garden just in case they didn't have the time to make it to the community one. They'd be made of corrugated iron sheets and steel plates at either end and buried under as much dirt as their gardens could manage, all in the hopes of protecting them.

Ridiculous to think about now of course, with our advancements what chance would a tin coffin stand against another blitzkrieg? It'd be a bright flash and burial all in one. No need for pomp or ceremony, just stick a tombstone on and call it a day. We all know it would get to that point, there's only so many bodies we're willing to dig up before we choose to let them lie.

Did you know that most of these shelters survived their intended period? After the All-Clear was declared a great deal were destroyed and the metal sold or repurposed in the harsh economy left behind after the War. Others were forgotten and buried even further, replaced with vegetables and flowers. Some had been buried long before the end by falling debris, with their occupants inside.

If a family screams eight feet underground and everyone on the streets above is screaming too, who will be around to hear them slowly starve and turn on each other?

I ask because an Anderson shelter was found in my neighbour's garden when he was digging the garden up to build an extension. The excavator drove straight through the tin roof revealing four skeletons. Two adult, one child and one infant.

Of course the police were called immediately, thinking at first that it was related to the recent spree of missing people. The bones dated back seventy-odd years, the clothing dated them to the early forties and the overall cause of death was a peculiar assortment.


The infant had died by asphyxiation, skull fractured suggesting a heavy object compressed the head.
Bones showing teeth marks in some places.

The child, aged twelve or so, blunt force trauma to the rear of the head, suspected weapon - one tin of beans with blood stained corner. Larger teeth marks in places.

The adult male had also asphyxiated, found with his torso buried under dirt in a clear escape attempt.
Large teeth marks to the thighs and left calf.

The adult female was the strangest, seemed to have died last by almost a year gap. Found sitting on the only chair there, a pipe in her hand full of tobacco. No teeth marks present.