The bombing of the Second World War meant that some whole streets were wiped off the future map. Rackham Street, in London W10, was one of them.
This photo shows the corner of Ladbroke Grove looking west down Rackham Street just after the end of the Second World War. Just beyond the Rootes advert was the local doctor's surgery. (Rootes, an auto manufacturor, was taken over by Chrysler long after the war.) Beyond the surgery, the houses - three floors and a basement flat, would generally house four or more families each.
During the night of 27/8 September 1940, after Nazi incendiary bombs, the central part of Rackham Street become a huge crater (though only one person was killed).
As the Luftwaffe aimed for the railway line and gas works, the nearby Princess Louise Hospital was also bombed three times and around a hundred incendiaries hit the St Charles convent and grounds.
In the early 1950s, the rest of Rackham Street was demolished to make way for the Balfour of Burleigh estate. Rackham Street left no trace - not even a name.
