Well done Jordan. I wondered how long it would be before anyone spotted that!
That picture, plus the second image of Commercial Road, Limehouse, was produced for an intended publication of my grandfather's wartime diaries.
The barrage balloon and searchlights were organised by West Ham Borough Council as part of an ARP recruitment drive on the 27th of February, 1939.
Here is a slightly amusing copy of a cutting from the Stratford Express:
Not only does it reveal a lovely bit of journalistic nonsense in the second paragraph, but a couple of other curious features also.
The hyphenated street names were a common device back then, but reference to the "Cinema car park" is indeed slightly puzzling.
No such facility was
ever provided, while even back in 1939, the very idea had yet to be invented! In the highly unlikely event of any motorist attending a film show at the "Broadway", they would have had no alternative to simply leaving their vehicles at a nearby kerb! There was a tram terminal point opposite however, with a triangle of open ground between West Ham Lane, Tramway Avenue and the rear of properties on Stratford Broadway. The Council had provided the plot with seating, small lawns and several flower beds with typical, low height, iron railings. Nowhere for anything with more than two wheels except perambulators!
Maybe it should be recalled that Londoners tended to refer to trams as "Cars", while any green or herbaceous recreational facility was a "Park"? I can find no other plausible explanation.
There is a bit more to describe about how the picture was done, but that is for later, if anyone is interested?
Pete.