ALT=

Click here to Sign the Petition for a Royal Medal award to Britain's WW2 Civilians



Community Comments:


THE GREEN TEAM

SHOP BUS

LE CAR

IK BRUNEL

ABOUT BRUNEL

MEMORIAL PARK



WW2 Sites

LEST WE FORGET

WARTIME STORIES

BLITZ KID

More Sites

ECO SITES

HOT SITES

STREET MARKETS

FIRST SETTLERS

CHANNEL4 HISTORY

MORE ON SHADWELL

MORE ON JEFFERSON


BBC Sport

BBC Weather

On This Day

Newswatch



LEA Heritage
GUESTBOOK
VISITORS

GUESTBOOK


Site search Web search


powered by FreeFind





Click here to Sign the Petition for a Royal Medal award to Britain's WW2 Civilians

Remember ThemRemember Them






A Fitting Tribute to a War Tragedy

A packed Public Meeting heard Alf Morris, survivor of the WW2 Bethnal green Tube disaster, ask for a permanent memorial to be located near to the spot of the tragedy where 173 Men, Women and Children lost their lives.

Alf's story .....

The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster

"On most days us children would start lining up outside the tube entrance from about 4.30pm until 6.30pm when it opened, we would then go down the escalators to the platforms and put a blanket down on the spot where we were going to sleep that night.

On the Day of the disaster I was still at home when an air-raid siren sounded just after 8pm, my Mother and Father asked my Aunt, who was living with us in Old Ford Road, to get me down to the shelter quickly so my Aunt and I hurried along, we had already reached the tube staircase, when a searchlight came on catching an aircraft in its beam, all hell broke loose as Ack Ack guns opened fire.

I was already being hurried down the staircase by my Aunt and heard the loud thuds of the rocket guns based at Victoria Park being fired, someone panicked and shouted 'there's a bomb coming' and everyone started to rush forward, by then, we were about the third stair from the bottom.

People started falling so fast that the whole stairway became blocked and no-one could get up or down, I felt my leg trapped and couldn't move as the crowd fell forward on top of me, my Aunt became seperated and it was only the fast action of an Air Raid Warden called Mrs Chumley that saved my life, she raised me out of the crush of bodies by my hair alone and then managed to loop her arms under mine and drag me clear, My Aunt had thankfully also managed to escape from the tangled mass of bodies but left her coat and shoes behind in getting out, both of us were in a state of shock and were promptly taken to see the Duty Warden.

It was not until about 10pm that evening that the facts of the disaster began to emerge, people were asking the fire officers and wardens questions as they walked through the tunnel, most kept silent so as not to create further panic, so it was not until the next morning that we heard that many of our friends and relatives had been killed the night before, people just stood there in shock and disbelief.

If only that searchlight had not been switched on in Bethnal Green Gardens that particular night, the guns would have stayed silent and people would have calmly walked down the stairway to the shelter as thay had done night after night, what makes this disaster especially hard to bear is that not one bomb dropped here on that fateful night."


Ivy Brind's Story


Eileen Bridger's Story


Joan Wilson's Story



PLEASE DONATE TO COMPLETE THE STAIRAWAY BY MAY 2016



BETHNAL GREEN COMMEMORATION VIDEO


'THE ONE SHOW' VIDEO


ALF MORRIS INTERVIEW


RECALLING THE MEMORIES



Support this worthy Campaign by writing to:

Alf Morris,
56 Grosvenor Drive Hornchurch
Esssex RM11 1PN
Telephone 01708 444 154


email:
info@stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org

Website:


Stairway to Heaven Guestbook:
Click here to view or sign in

Remember ThemRemember Them
LEST WE FORGET!

Remember ThemRemember Them
EDEN CAMP

Remember ThemRemember Them
A BOY'S STORY

Remember ThemRemember Them
COLUMBIA MARKET WAR MEMORIAL



Remember ThemRemember Them