Hyde Park 1932 and 1945

Original

Restored

This was the new Federation-style bandstand built in 1912 to replace an earlier Victorian one. It was in the centre of what is today's Sandringham Gardens. Having survived the massive excavations of the park when the subway was put through in the 1920s, it didn't survive WW2 because...

Original

Restored

... in 1945, the south-east corner of Hyde Park North, at the corner of College Street, was resumed to build a large repatriation hostel for British soldiers returning from the Pacific War. It was demolished in 1947 and replaced with new gardens, dedicated to our late Queen Elizabeth, that are still there today.

(For newer generations who may not have heard of it: The British Tucker Box was under a donation scheme of food parcels from the people of Commonwealth countries back to Britain, which was suffering shortages after the war.)