London: Bethnal Green tube disaster memorial unveiled

A memorial has been unveiled to the 173 people who died in one of London’s deadliest single disasters of World War Two.   

On March 3, 1943, the BBC reported a 300 bomber raid on Berlin, and Londoners braced themselves for retaliation.   As sirens sounded, people headed for the shelters.   Then 500 yards from Bethnal Green tube station (pictured), a new battery of anti-aircraft rocket launchers opened fire.

There was a rush for the steps leading down to the station, and close to the bottom, a woman stumbled.     Others fell over her, and a deadly crush began.    Altogether 173 people were suffocated or crushed to death, including 62 children, and another 100 people were injured.    In fact, no bombs fell on the East End of London that night.

A survivor who was 8 at the time, said at today's ceremony that it was 'fantastic' to see the memorial finally unveiled 73 years after the event. He spent nine months in hospital after suffering injuries to his spleen, legs, neck and arms.

For more, see London's Disasters from Boudicca to the Banking Crisis. 

East London Disasters

Thank you to the East London History Society for inviting me to talk to them last night on 'East London Disasters'.

There was a good turnout, with some fascinating stories from members of the audience: two men who had been working at King's Cross underground station on the night of the fire, and a woman whose mother had been caught up in the Bethnal Green tube station disaster of 1943.

That was one of the disasters I covered in the talk, along with the Barking flood of 1377, cholera, the Princess Alice, the Forest Gate school fire of 1890, the HMS Albion launch disaster of 1898, the Silvertown explosion of 1917, Ronan Point and the Dudgeon's Wharf explosion of 1969.

A great time was had by all!

http://www.mernick.org.uk/elhs/

Bethnal Green tube station disaster - a memorial at last

Sixty-nine years after the event, work has finally begun on a permanent memorial to the 173 people who died in one of London’s deadliest single disasters of World War Two.   

On March 3, 1943, the BBC reported a 300 bomber raid on Berlin, and Londoners braced themselves for retaliation.   As sirens sounded, people headed for the shelters.   Then 500 yards from Bethnal Green tube station, a new battery of anti-aircraft rocket launchers opened up.

There was a rush for the steps leading down to the station, and close to the bottom, a woman stumbled.     Others fell over her, and a deadly crush began.    Altogether 173 people were suffocated or crushed to death, including 62 children.    In fact, no bombs fell on the East End of London that night.

Survivors and relatives of victims attended a ceremony to mark the beginning of work on the memorial, which is expected to take 3 months.