Plaque

Old Palace School - WW2 bomb

Erection date: /4/1997

Inscription

In memory of the 13 London firemen and women and 21 Beckenham firemen killed on the night of 19th April 1941 when a bomb destroyed the old school being used as a sub-fire station.

This is the largest single loss of Fire Brigade personnel in English history.

Details of this tragic incident were recorded in the wartime diaries of Mr W. Somerville, an off duty member of the Homerton crew.

It is to him and the many thousands of men and women that made up the A.F.S & N.F.S 1939 - 1945 that this plaque is also dedicated.

The Beckenham firemen are also commemorated, and listed by name, on a plaque at Beckenham Fire Station.

2022: The great-nephew of one of the fire women killed, Winifred Alexandra Peters, created a website dedicated to the memory of those that sadly lost their lives at the Old Palace School. By 2022 he had completed 21 of the 34 biographies of the firemen and women who died. These are full biographies each with many photographs.

Site: Old Palace School - WW2 bomb (1 memorial)

E3, St Leonard's Street, Old Palace Primary School

The circumstances of this bombing are described at Firemen Remembered: "Shortly after 1.30am, … crews …. were assembled in the school playground standing-by to be sent on to where they were needed most when a land-mine, one of the most violently destructive weapons at that stage of the war, landed on the roof of the school and dropped down a stairwell at the bottom of which was the watchroom where ….  two women were killed outright. The men waiting outside were caught by the blast, which also demolished two thirds of the school building, and were buried by falling masonry."

The 1943 film 'The Bells Go Down' shows new recruits joining an AFS group based at a school in the East End.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Old Palace School - WW2 bomb

Subjects commemorated i

The Blitz

During WW2 Britain came under heavy bombing from Germany for 8 months, 1940-1...

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Auxiliary Fire Service / AFS

The Auxiliary Fire Service was formed in 1938 as part of the Civil Defence Se...

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Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

This page brings together all the memorials that we have for civilians killed...

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13 London firemen & women & 21 Beckenham firemen killed

32 firemen and 2 firewomen, including:  Hilda Dupree, Winifred Peters, three ...

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National Fire Service / NFS

Nationwide fire service created during WW2 from the amalgamation of the warti...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Old Palace School - WW2 bomb

Created by i

W. Somerville

Member of the Homerton fire crew.  Wrote a diary during WW2.

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