Event    From 7/10/1940  To 7/10/1940

Soho Fire Station WW2 bomb

Categories: Tragedy

The picture source provides: "On the evening of Oct. 7, 1940, Soho fire station in central London took a direct hit during the Blitz, killing Station Officer William Wilson and Auxiliary Firefighter Frederick Mitchell as well as two passersby. The station's fire apparatus sustained damage."

West End at War has another photo showing the damage to the building above the fire station. Here we learn that "Shaftesbury Avenue Fire Station (built in 1887 and renamed the Soho Fire Station in 1921), suffered severe damage and was virtually demolished. Two passers-by sheltering in the doorway were killed and several firemen inside the Station also died or were seriously injured. Three fire engines were covered in debris and the Station entrances were completely blocked. Survivors from the building escaped by sliding down the debris, dazed but otherwise unhurt. In 1942, a temporary station structure was put in place; this building remained in use until a new Soho Fire Station was opened at 126 Shaftesbury Avenue in 1983."

Firestations has a photo of this station 29 July 1981, showing the "temporary station structure" which served for over 40 years.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Soho Fire Station WW2 bomb

Commemorated ati

Soho Fire Station - Wilson and Mitchell

We will remember them, Station Officer - L. W. G. Wilson Auxiliary Freman - F...

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Other Subjects

Anna Cecilia Aviles Marcillo

Anna Cecilia Aviles Marcillo

Non-British, killed by the Bali bomb.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
Suzanne Ames Maloney

Suzanne Ames Maloney

Non-British, killed by the Bali bomb.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
June T. Abeyratne

June T. Abeyratne

June T. Dobedoe was born on 18 February 1956, the second of the three children of Roland Ivor Dobedoe (1927-2001) and Margaret Mary Dobedoe née Buckley (1926-2004). Her birth was registered in in t...

Person, Tragedy, Ceylon

1 memorial
Bernadette Kearney

Bernadette Kearney

Bernadette Frances Kearney was born on 20 August 1964. She died, aged 23 years, on 18 November 1987 in the King's Cross Underground Station fire. At the subsequent fire investigation report she was...

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
L. W. G. Wilson

L. W. G. Wilson

Station Officer -  One of two men (with Frederick Mitchell) who gave their lives at Soho Fire Station on 7th October 1940. London Fire Journal gives his name as William Wilson. See Mitchell for som...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial