Event    From 7/9/1940  To 7/9/1940

Surrey Docks fire

Categories: Tragedy

The docks were set on fire in the first raid of the Blitz. Our picture source gives: "... a firestorm in the docks that blazed from end to end for a whole week. ... A third of the warehouses and transit sheds were destroyed. The inferno at the docks eventually spread to cover 100 hectares (250 acres). Firemen from London and as far away as Bristol fought more than 40 separate fires. The largest fire at the Surrey Docks required 300 pumps to contain it."

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 memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Surrey Docks fire

Commemorated ati

Surrey Docks fire - first bomb of the Blitz

Surrey Docks fire. On September 7th 1940 the docks were set on fire in the fi...

Read More

Other Subjects

Herbert Gifford Harvey

Herbert Gifford Harvey

Junior Assistant 2nd Engineer on the RMS Titanic. A full résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website.  He is also commemorated on the Engineers Memorial, Andrews East Park...

Person, Armed Forces, Engineering, Tragedy, Ireland

1 memorial
Dr Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond

Dr Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond

Millionaire businessman.   Born on 5 January 1944 in Kilcurry, County Louth, Ireland.  Owned Corby Castle and Carlisle Airport.  He's the one sporting the ermine in the picture. His Wikipedia page...

Person, Benefactor, Politics & Administration, Tragedy, Ireland

1 memorial
Stn. O. Jack Fourt-Wells

Stn. O. Jack Fourt-Wells

Jack Fourt-Wells was born on 4 May 1911. He married Winifred Elsie Seward (1916-1993) and their marriage is recorded in the 2nd quarter of 1939 in the Pancras registration district. The 1939 Englan...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

2 memorials
John Andrews

John Andrews

John Andrews was born in 1959 and in September 2001 he married Tracy Lovick (1964-2004) in the Hertford and Ware registration district, Hertfordshire. According to the BBC News website he lived in...

Person, Tragedy, Southeast Asia

1 memorial
Sai Leung
1 memorial

Previously viewed