BETHNAL GREEN UNDERGROUND DISASTER 3rd March 1943

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by STAN50, Feb 23, 2010.

  1. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Memorial service today 1400 hours at Bethnal Green Tube and the church next door prior to that.
     
  2. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Pieter F and dbf like this.
  3. geoff501

    geoff501 Achtung Feind hört mit

    Stan,
    Thanks for posting.

    NOT FORGOTTEN
     
  4. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Charity Art Auction coming up in May 16th May.

    see: Introduction .

    This will take place on Monday 16th May at Rich Mix, Bethnal Green Road, (Shoreditch end) between 6pm and 8pm. Entry to the event is free, there will be a catalogue of items so those that cannot come along may wish to donate online. There will be entertainment on the night and refreshments. Some of the works will be entered into a silent auction so that bids will be attached to each one and the highest bidder will be able to take the work away with them (or collect it later) once it is paid for. You could go away with tomorrow’s famous artwork for a bargain price or a gem to put on your wall for a fraction of the market price, so put the date in your diary.
     
    CL1 likes this.
  5. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Just a reminder that The Stairway To Heaven Memorial Trust is having their charity art auction tomorrow at 'Rix Mix' 35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road E1 (Shoreditch end) tomorrow at 6pm. Viewing and bidding for the silent auction starts at 6pm and closes at 8pm. The live auction starst at 7.30pm.
    All money raised goes to the charity towards the Memorial. See their website for more information.


    Pics now removed as auction over.
     
  6. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Auction now over so pictures removed.
     
  7. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    2012 Memorial Service in St Johns Church this Sunday at 2pm The church is situated about 100 yards away from the Underground. After the service the wreath laying will take place on the railings at the top of the Underground steps. Some flowers are generally place there before the service as well.

    This year there is expected to be a considerable amount of reporters attending from National newspapers as thememorial is taking shape. Enough money has been raised to buid the plinth.

    Stairway to heaven: a new memorial for the Bethnal Green underground disaster – Telegraph Blogs
     
  8. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

  9. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Lest we forget !

    Ron
     
  10. Rob Dickers

    Rob Dickers 10th MEDIUM REGT RA

    As we speak
    The Bishopsgate Institute, Bishopsgate,EC2M 4QH is conducting a series of interviews with witnesses who were there for an Oral History of this tragic disaster, as expected it is proving to be very harrowing indeed.
    Best
    Rob

    The Bishopsgate Institute, in conjunction with the Stairway to Heaven Trust, is in the process of making audio recordings by various survivors and of relatives’ memories for posterity. From these it is hoped to produce an audio unit-for-hire to be made available to visitors as they view the Memorial.


    Bethnal Green Underground Disaster
     
  11. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Some photos from last Sundays Commemoration Service:

    P3040507.JPG Alf Morris - A lucky survivior plucked from the mass of tangled bodies by Air Raid Warden Mrs. Chumbley, who ushered him downstairs wagged a finger at him and told him to 'say nothing' about what he'd just witnessed to the other people below on the platform. He lost a brother aged six and his mother aged 30 in the tragedy.

    P3040492.JPG Derek Spicer who lost a brother aged nine and a sister aged four in the crush on the staircase.

    General views of the wreath and flower laying at the top of the Underground steps. First pic shows the procession leaving St. Johns on Bethnal Green church after the service a mere 100 yards away from the Underground Stn.
    Note Tommy Walsh in 7th picture down - he is a supporter of the project to build the memorial.

    View attachment 73298 Chap at the front in the white coat is Peter Perryment, a survivor from the accident. Tommy Walsh is behind him.
    P3040479.JPG
    P3040480A.JPG Fr Alan Green places a wreath.
    P3040488.JPG
    View attachment 73302
    P3040486.JPG
    P3040483A.JPG Civil Defence representative
    View attachment 73305
    P3040503.JPG
     
  12. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    St.Johns on Bethnal Green church. Below photos:

    Tommy Walsh chats to the architect of the -memorial Harry Paticas.

    View attachment 75906 A packed church despite the terrible weather.

    View attachment 75907 The front of the Underground in 1943.

    P3040448.JPG Pearly Kings and Queens at church lobby.
     

    Attached Files:

  13. Lofty1

    Lofty1 Senior Member

    Once again great coverage Chis, well done and thank for posting.
    lofty
     
  14. STAN50

    STAN50 Senior Member

    Just a reminder that this Sunday is the 70th anniversary of Bethnal Green underground tragedy, when on that night 173 men women and children were crushed and suffocated on the steps of one of East Londons undergrounds staircases.

    This was caused by a new type of defence rocket being sent up in a nearby park. The sound unfamiliar to the civilian population was mistaken for German bombs dropping. As people rushed to get under cover somone on the lower staircase tripped and those behind fell upon them.

    To this day it remains Londons worst civilian disaster during WW2 and to this day it still largely the 'forgotten tragedy' of wartime London.

    Hushed up at the time, and even now very contraversial, its' occurrence still remains with all those who remember or were involved or lost family in the incident.

    For some considerable time this organisation:

    Introduction

    has been trying to raise enough funds to build a decent memorial to the men women and children killed on the night of 3rd March 1943. Much work has been achieved and the memorial plinth is now at stage one completion. Funding is on-going for stage two which will be in the form of an inverted staircase, each stair of which will bear a name of a victim.

    On this Sunday there will be a memorial Service at St. John's on Bethnal Green. This is situated directly opposite the memorial site and underground steps. it will commence at 2pm and is open to all.

    During the service the names of the victims are read out. This is usually carried out by survivors and family members. Afterwards a procession will leave the church to lay flowers at the base of the new memorial across the road. As this is a busy area the Police stop the traffic.

    Here there will be prayers of dedication and a flower laying ceremony for survivors, families, and anyone who was invovled with the tragedy.

    After this, back in the church, nurses, doctors and rescuers who were involved with the incident will be speaking briefly about their experiences. People will also be able to view an exhibition about the memorial and refreshments will be available.


    The campaign to gain funding to complete the memorial has already the backing of celebrities such as Barbara Windsor, Tommy Walsh and the pop group 'Bucks Fizz.' More recently renowned documentary maker Harry Harris is giving his support to the project and has become a patron to the trust.

    Ref. Pics Tommy Walsh seen in 1,3 & 7. Harry Harris on the stpes of St.Johns pic. 5 (green shirt, brown jacket, top left hand side).


    (My mothers father was one of the Home Guard sent in to remove the bodies from the staircase in 1943).
     

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  15. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

  16. Bernard85

    Bernard85 WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    god day stan50.re;bethnal green underground tragedy 1943.a very sad day.it is hard to believe such a terrible disaster could happen,bombs yes.i was bombd out during the blitz,but for someboby to trip over and cause such devastation is hard to comprehend,alltho i was a young man back then.i remenber the sadness shown by people that day. for the victims of that disaster,thank you for posting such historical event .lest we forget.bernard85
     
  17. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

  18. GalDriver

    GalDriver Junior Member

    I'm a Trustee of The Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust and it will be such a joy to lay my wreath at the memorial, albeit infinished, for the very first time. It happened 70 years ago so it's a bit late in coming but we're nearly there now.

    I hope to see some of you there too, there'll be charity goodies to buy and refreshments as well as a great ecumenical service led by Rev.Green of St.John's on Bethnal Green church (where most of it is held). It starts at 2pm and we'll be laying flowers/wreaths on the memorial after the service in the church.

    If you want more details about parking/travelling/the day generally/etc inbox me or go to the Facebook page (Bethnal Green Tube Disaster) or our website Introduction

    See you tomorrow.
     
  19. GalDriver

    GalDriver Junior Member

    The 70th memorial service is definitely on Sunday, tomorrow, when we can lay our flowers on the unfinished memorial instead of the railings where we block the already busy pavement.

    To most of us who had family members involved the memorial is important as the little plaque just reminded us of how the government of the time kept the worst civilian disaster of WW2 a dirty secret, even after the war. So sad, such a shame.

    We'll be pleased to have somewhere pproper to lay our flowers and for the coming generations to learn about the disaster. Lest we forget, eh?

    There's a University course who are recording all about it for posterity and the school visits are as popular as ever so it's far from forgotten nowadays. Good.

    Oh btw, our celebrity patrons Cheryl Baker and Tommy Walsh will be there tomorrow and Len Goodman (who lost an uncle - the boxer Dickie Corbett – real name Richard Coleman in the tragedy too) may be there too before he jets off to the States.
     
  20. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    Nick Ferrari on the LBC morning show on Friday reminded Londoners of this anniversary of this terrible event by asking what was the most serious civilian disaster during the war...
     

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