Plaque | Civilian war dead | WW2

Sloane Court East bomb - wall plaque

Erection date: 4/10/1998

Inscription

In memory of the 74 American military personnel of the United States Army and three civilians who were killed on the 3rd July 1944 by a 'V1' flying bomb in Sloane Court East / Turks Row.
We will remember them.

We are extremely grateful to London Memorial who have done the research on this event, all recorded in their excellent website, from which all our information comes.

Refer to Sloane Court East V1 bomb for info about the event. The number of dead is not accurate on either plaque. At the time the death toll was kept as quiet as possible for reasons of morale, so the facts were not readily to hand. We have accepted, gratefully, the results of London Memorial's researches. For summary info about the military dead refer to American servicemen killed at Sloane Court East. For the names of the 65 American servicemen we refer you to London Memorial.

But we have created our own page for each of the 9 lost civilian local residents, linked into this wall plaque, and only this wall plaque because the other only commemorates the military. Of the 9 civilians all but 1 were female, 3 were serving on the home front, and most were middle-aged or elderly.

From London Memorial: This plaque was funded and installed by "Bill Figg of Chelsea, who had witnessed the aftermath of the 1944 bombing".

Site: Sloane Court East bomb - wall plaque (1 memorial)

SW1, Turk's Row, Garden House School

This event is memorialised by two plaques, just far enough apart for us to have them on separate pages: this wall plaque and this pavement plaque. Oddly both are in Turk's Row, though all the damaged/destroyed buildings were in Sloane Court East.

Mainly due to the location of this plaque we thought that this building had been involved with the bomb in some way but we now think that this is not correct. Cavalry House, now occupied by Garden House School, was originally barracks, part of the early-mid C19th Duke of York's Headquarters. We cannot discover how it was used during WW2 but it appears to have had no connection with those who were billeted, and killed, in Sloane Court East. This is confirmed by the fact that many were killed while boarding a truck to get to their usual workplace.

Just 4 years before the plaque was unveiled, Cavalry House was converted, c.1994, into residential accommodation and we think that explains the presence of this plaque. Developers are often keen, in return for the development permission, to fund projects seen as beneficial for the local community. In this case, having a historic plaque on their own wall was probably seen as beneficial to their sales as well!

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:
Sloane Court East bomb - wall plaque

Subjects commemorated i

Sloane Court East V1 bomb

The V1 bomb arrived at 7.47 on a Monday morning, landing at the top end of Sl...

Read More

V1 and V2 rockets

The V1 and V2 rockets were developed as a reaction to the heavy allied bombin...

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

American servicemen killed at Sloane Court East

The dead included 62 members of the 130th Chemical Processing Company (billet...

Read More

Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

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

Read More

Show all 14

Nearby Memorials

Thomas Hodgkin

Thomas Hodgkin

WC1, Bedford Square, 35, Architectural Association

Greater London Council Thomas Hodgkin, 1798 - 1866, physician, reformer and philanthropist lived here.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
John Soane at Pitzhanger

John Soane at Pitzhanger

W5, Mattock Lane, Pitzhanger Manor

Unusually neither of the memorials is visible in our photo of the location, but we hope you agree that the house is worthy of a picture f...

2 subjects commemorated
E. C. H. Rowland

E. C. H. Rowland

SM1, High Street Sutton, Times Square Shopping Centre

Andrew Behan informed us that the plaque was originally laid into the ground just outside the entrance but it was being worn by the heavy...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Violette Szabo home

Violette Szabo home

SW9, Burnley Road, 18

Szabo lived here 1932-42.

War dead | WW2
2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Norman Douglas

Norman Douglas

SW11, Albert Bridge Road, 63 Albany Mansions

The unusual shape of the plaque, is probably due to the fact that there is nowhere large enough on the face of the building, to erect the...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Trump

Trump

The Picture source, Tate, says, about this William Hogarth self-portrait: "Hogarth’s pug dog, Trump, serves as an emblem of the artist’s own pugnacious character." The sculptor Roubiliac who create...

Animal, Animals

2 memorials
Vita Sackville-West

Vita Sackville-West

Writer and gardener. Born Victoria Mary Sackville-West at Knole, near Sevenoaks, Kent, the only child of Lionel Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville. She started writing at an early age, having many...

Person, Gardens / Agriculture, Literature

1 memorial