Plaque | War served, Civilian war dead | WW2

Plaistow Road WW2 air attack

Erection date: 2013

Inscription

In memory of five members of the Beckenham Auxiliary Fire Service and one West Ham Auxiliary Fireman killed by enemy action in World War II near this site on the night of 19th/20th March 1941.

Fm. Charles Wesley Drew Beckenham
Fm. Dennis Gerald Fitzgerald Beckenham
Fm. Frederick Walter Moore Beckenham
Fm. Leslie John Palmer Beckenham
Fm. Stanley Short Beckenham
Fm. Harold George Hugget West Ham

In memory also of Chief Officer Cyril Demarne OBE, West Ham Fire brigade and National Fire Service 1925 - 1955.
And with thanks to After the Battle Publications
AFS Beckenham
AFS West Ham
© FR 2013

Our colleague Andrew Behan points out the following errors on this plaque: Fitzgerald's first name should have only one 'n'; Short was a 'Leading Fireman'; Huggett's surname should have two 't's. The Beckenham firemen are also commemorated on a plaque at Beckenham Fire Station, where the details are correct.

We agree with Andrew that the errors are regrettable and the inclusion of Demarne and the publishers is questionable. 

Site: Plaistow Road WW2 air attack (1 memorial)

E15, Plaistow Road, 163

We have found very little information about the event that caused the death of these 6 firemen in 1941. Normally someone, such as a local history group, has researched the event and published the details on the web. However, the obvious question (why were 5 firemen from Beckenham here on this night?) is answered at Newham Story forum: the five Coney Hall, Beckenham, men comprised the crew of a pump, one of a convoy on the way to a fire at Silvertown.

Our colleague, Andrew, also discovered that a seventh fireman died at this event: Arthur James Goreham. He was from the West Ham station and was buried with his friend, Harold George Huggett, at the City of London Cemetery.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Plaistow Road WW2 air attack

Subjects commemorated i

The Blitz

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

Read More

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

Read More

Cyril Demarne

Born Poplar.  A firefighter in WW2 he became Chief Officer of the West Ham Fi...

Read More

Charles Wesley M. Drew

Fireman killed as a result of an air raid on Plaistow Road, E15 on 19 March 1...

Read More

Denis Gerald Fitzgerald

Auxiliary Fireman Denis Gerald Fitzgerald was born on 20 June 1912 in Croydon...

Read More

Show all 9

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Plaistow Road WW2 air attack

Created by i

Auxiliary Fire Service / AFS

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

Read More

After the Battle Publications

Publishers of books and magazines about military history.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

PP - 4U - Regelous & Denman

PP - 4U - Regelous & Denman

EC1, Edward Street

“Carmen” were the equivalent of today’s delivery drivers.

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
William Walker

William Walker

SE25, Portland Road, 118

Erected in the centenary year of his death. Such a fittingly designed plaque. Let's have more of them. Worked at Winchester Cathedral 19...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Ashleigh and India Houses

Ashleigh and India Houses

CR0, Addiscombe Road, 137 - 139

Ashleigh & India Houses, 1848. Houses for professors of the East India Company's Military Seminary. Croydon's Heritage

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
General John Burgoyne

General John Burgoyne

W1, Hertford Street, 10

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives his birth year as 1723.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
James Braidwood

James Braidwood

SE1, Tooley Street, 33

What a great plaque. The inscription is inside a laurel wreath, in front of a burning building. A hose snakes from the building, over the...

3 subjects commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

BBC Television Centre - Harry Worth

BBC Television Centre - Harry Worth

W12, Wood Lane, BBC Television Centre - Star Terrace

The plaque on the brick wall in the picture reads: The BBC Star Terrace, "Bring me fun, bring me sunshine, bring me love" Sylvie Dee. De...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators