The West Pier, 22 September 1945
This photographic print captures the West Pier just twenty days after the official end of the Second World War. The photograph was probably taken from the second floor of the huge theatre on the pier head.
The image reveals the five years of decay endured by the pier. Paint is peeling, some of the Concert Hall windows are broken, and abandoned deckchairs are strewn across the neck of the pier.
Also revealed are the defensive actions taken in summer 1940 to hinder use of the pier by enemy forces invading from the sea. Just to the south of the Concert Hall the pier was ‘sectioned’ - cut in two - and the island pier head mined and booby trapped.
Three years later, in the late summer of 1943, the threat of invasion appeared remote. Brighton’s piers were cleared of mines by a team led by bomb disposal officer, Captain Kenneth Revis (1917-2002). The Palace Pier having been made safe, work begun on the West Pier. To bridge the chasm dividing the pier in two, pylons of tubular scaffolding were built, one on either side of the gap, and rope, pulley and a makeshift bosun’s chair used to carry people and materials from one side to the other. This scaffolding bridge structure survived in 1945 and can be seen on the left hand side just south of the Concert Hall.
Working on the west of the pier on 10 September 1943, Captain Revis and Corporal Marlowe had defused eight or nine mines when the one being worked on exploded, blowing up and blinding Ken Revis and, in a chain reaction, causing other mines to detonate. The foreground of the photograph perhaps shows the damage caused by the exploding mines.
Ken and his wife Jo both subsequently served as board members on the West Pier Trust.
Despite the ravages of nature and impact of defensive measures, the photograph suggests the essence of the pier was remarkably intact. The kiosk closest to the camera had previously been used as a sweet shop. Although they had lost their canvas, the remains of the awnings that protected the shop from the sun can be seen. Signs advertise chocolate and ‘Maynards’, the local company with a number of outlets on the pier. At the extreme bottom right is the entrance to the rifle range, an entertainment housed in a structure hung under the pier.
The West Pier reopened in stages. The landward section up to the Concert Hall opened on Thursday 18 April 1946. By the beginning of 1948 the whole pier was once again a place of seaside fun and pleasure.
Image credit: Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton and Hove. Used under a BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence.
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