Least we forget: Remembering the 85th anniversary of the Blitz.

 

Hat tip Newham History Society

Fire Brigade & West Ham Councillors remember Blitz heroes

This afternoon I met Newham Fire Brigade Commander, Terry Gooding, at the plaque outside 163 Plaistow Road, West Ham Ward, Newham, London, E15 3ET to remember the 6 firefighters who were killed near this spot by enemy bombing 80 years ago.

5 of the 6 firefighters had come to help save London from Beckenham in Kent. By coincidence, in Commander Gooding's previous posting, Beckenham had been one of the fire stations he was responsible for.

My fellow West Ham Ward Colleagues, Cllr Charlene McLean and Cllr John Whitworth also came (separately) to show their respects for the fallen.

It is difficult for us to imagine the sheer awfulness of that night. Firefighting is difficult and dangerous at the best of times but the heroism of these men to tackle fires and try to save lives in the midst of a mass air attack is incredible.

We must never forget and in future years (post covid) I hope we can involve the local community more in remembering and honouring the fallen.

80th anniversary of the deaths of Beckenham Firefighters in West Ham Blitz Bombing

On the 19 March 2021 it is the 80th anniversary of the destruction of a fire engine and its crew due to Nazi bombing in West Ham ward, which I represent as a Councillor. 5 our of the 6 firefighters killed came from Beckenham to help defend London from attack.

There is a plaque on the side wall of what is now the Plaistow café, 163 Plaistow Road, Newham London, E15 3ET.

I brought this anniversary up at a recent meeting in West Ham and it was agreed that we must mark this occasion in some Covid safe way.  I will contact the Borough Fire Brigade commander. 

By coincidence a few years ago I was walking in Kent and came across a memorial to these same firefighters in rural Beckenham.

 

Newham remembers the 80th Anniversary of the Blitz

 

Today (7 September 2020) is the 80th anniversary of the Blitz when during the second world war, Nazi Germany tried to bomb Britain into submission by massive air raids in 1940/41. Some 43000 civilians were killed and many more injured. 

In Newham we marked this day by firstly holding a ceremony at the Council repairs depot in  Abbey Road E15 at 9am remembering the 13 Air raid wardens and firefighters who were killed at this site by a direct hit on 7 September. Modern day fire fighters from the LFB and many council repair staff were in attendance which was led by the Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz and the Deputy Mayor (Community) Cllr Charlene McLean. 

Next. we laid wreaths at the East Ham War memorial and mass grave site for civilian dead at Manor Park cemetery E12. I was asked to say a few words and just pointed out that we must never forget that it was the rise of fascism in Germany which resulted in all these innocent deaths and that we must constantly be on our guard against fascism to stop this ever happening again. 

Afterwards, my Councillor colleagues for West Ham ward (Cllr Charlene Mclean and Cllr John Whitworth) and I went to East London Cemetery E13 to visit the West Ham war memorial and mass grave which listed the hundreds of civilians killed by Nazi bombing (as well as 7 Royal Navy sailors from HMT Abronia which was also sunk I assume in the docks on 7 September 1940).

We also paid our respects at the memorial and mass grave of 105 London Borough of Hackney residents buried at this cemetery. 

It is clear from all these memorials that whole families were wiped out due to the bombing including unnamed babies whose names had not yet been registered. 

Later we went to Ranelagh Road E15 in our ward and placed a single red rose at the site of a local tragedy. A German war plane had been shot down on 7 September by RAF fighters but it had crashed into the gardens killing 5 local residents who had been hiding in their air raid shelters. 

This evening there was a excellent Facebook live panel video with local Newham historians about the Blitz. You can see the recording here:-

here https://www.facebook.com/newhamevents/videos/1190977721272201

7/7 Bombing Anniversary - remember the 52 victims (& the 700 injured)

On this day 7/7/05 I was at work at my housing office in Bow. We shut early. There was no trains or buses. I remember driving along Bow Road into Stratford High Street towards home and there was a sea of people walking east wards.

A few years later I listened to a Radio 4 drama about the London Blitz. In the drama a fictional character spoke about how in 1940 she walked along Bow Road, East London towards Stratford in order to escape the bombing. Along the road with her was a constant stream of other survivors walking along the road in the same direction of safety.

This September is also the 80th Anniversary of the London Blitz.

London Mayor, Sadiq Khan laid a wreath today at the Bombing memorial. 

Talk & Walk: Forest Gate Childrens Workhouse then Maternity Hospital - Tragic Fire, Blitz Bombing & Child Cruelty (E7 Now and then)

"Dickensian stories and tales of the midwife in Forest Gate. 1/2 Talk and walk, lead by yours truly, on the 700 pupil residential Victorian workhouse school and 20th century maternity hospital that existed on Forest Lane. Sat 14 Mar 2-3.30pm, The Lodge, Forest Lane. Free. #BFG

2/2 Tragic fire, blitz bombing, child cruelty on the site of Forest Lane Park. Hear about it and visit the memorial to the 26 workhouse boys suffocated there in 1890. Talk/walk: Sat 14 Mar, 2-3.30 at the Lodge Forest Lane, by yrs truly"

Hat tip E7 Now and then (on twitter)

Stand Up To Racism March

Top video from Chester at CY Film production on Newham activists and the "Stand up to Racism" march last Saturday. Apologies for muddling date of London Blitz. It was over 70 years not 60.

In Memory of 13 West Ham Heroes killed by Enemy Action 7 September 1940

"Memorial at LBN Abbey Road Depot, to those killed on one of the first attacks on the 7th September, 1940, known as `Black Saturday`. This was the start of the `Blitz`, although not the first bombs to fall on West Ham, Beckton Road was bombed on the 31st August". Hat tip Robert Rogers Newham History Society on Facebook. 

"account of the incident from The London Blitz – A Fireman’s Tale by Cyril Demarne who was a Sub-Officer in the Auxiliary Fire Service at the time and later became Chief Fire Officer for West Ham" hat tip Richard Durack Newham Council Heritage Service.

Memorial to 5 Beckenham Fire Fighters killed by Enemy Action in West Ham Ward

Last Saturday I posted on a London Loop walk here http://grayee.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/london-loop-walk-section-4-west-wickham.html in rural Croydon, South London.

I was astonished to later find out that a memorial in a Church grave yard in West Wickham was to 5 local Beckenham firefighters who had been killed by a German bomb in the Council ward I represent in Newham.

This is the plaque to those heroes who died defending London from the Nazi blitzkrieg. It includes 6th victim Harold Hugget from West Ham.


The plaque is fixed to the side wall of what is now the Plaistow cafe, 163 Plaistow Road, Newham London, E15 3ET.

There is another memorial in West Ham ward to 13 firefighters killed in 1940

Bombs dropped in Greater London during the Blitz

This map and website is pretty amazing and frightening. It represents all the bombs dropped on London during the Blitz (7 October 1940 to 6 June 1941). Use Bombsite to find out the damage and location of bombs dropped in your locality if you live in London.

Remember this only records damage during the "Blitz" and that London and other cities suffered bombing throughout the war and V1/V2 rocket attacks.

Former soldier warns against supporting Far Right Fascist "Britain First"

Labour Ipswich Councillor, Alasdair Ross, who spent over 24 years in the Royal Green Jackets, serving his country in Northern Ireland, Bosnia,  Kosovo and finally in with The Rifles in Sangin, Afghanistan warns us here about the nasty fascist so called "Britain First" front. Who are tricking the public to support them and using photographs of dead British servicemen funerals to raise funds.

I agree with Alasdair that these people are just fascists who shame our country and our war dead. Both my grandfathers fought in the Second World War. We lost hundreds of thousands of British military and civilians in combat and in the Blitz while fighting against the Nazi and their ilk.

"Britain First" is one of the many splits that have resulted from the welcome demise of the racist BNP. They are an extremist "hate group"- nothing more and nothing less.

(picture of German Bomber flying over the Isle of Dogs)

London Marathon Training 2012 Week 1: "Coventriert" & Getting fit can damage your health

Earlier this month I posted here that I was planning to run the London Marathon 2012 and was starting to train using this 24 week training programme.  I plan to post each week on my training and hope to make it "on message" as much as possible. 

This week's top run was around Coventry City centre (on route to a brief visit to Wales) and the old and new Cathedral (see picture).  Germans bombers destroyed  much of the city during the Second World War.  Especially in the infamous attack on November 14 1940.  "The raid destroyed or damaged about 60,000 buildings...and is known to have killed 568 civilians. The raid reached such a new level of destruction that Joseph Goebbels later used the term Coventriert ("Coventrated") when describing similar levels of destruction of other enemy towns".  The Cathedral is well worth a visit.

The worse was along Llandudno beach the following day when Mrs Grayee, who was running with me, slipped on a concrete ramp and broke her wrist so badly that she needed a metal plate to be surgically fitted.  Many thanks to Glan Clwyd hospital for the initial care and Newham University hospital for further treatment.  She is now on the mend. You do wonder if getting fit is worth it?

Then this morning I went for a run around Wanstead Park.  The autumnal colour of the trees is simply beautiful. I ran for the first time a 45 minute "Fartiek" session.  You do a a self selected combination of fast sprints, medium runs and slow jogs.  I think it is fair to say I did far more of the latter than the former. Yet I had a huge sense of achievement and well being at the end.