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

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...

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Other Subjects

James Stuart Nicholas Mayes

James Stuart Nicholas Mayes

James Stuart Nicholas Mayes was born on 16 April 1977 the younger of the two children of Bernard J. Mayes and Rosemary S. Mayes née Rampton. His birth was registered in the Hampstead registration d...

Person, Tragedy

3 memorials
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
Henry F. Collins

Henry F. Collins

Role on the lost expedition: Officer on SS Erebus. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
Anthony Berbeck

Anthony Berbeck

Berbeck actually escaped the fire, but became mentally disturbed and died after falling from a balcony, a possible suicide. Our colleague, Andrew Behan, has researched this young man: Anthony Alex...

Person, Tragedy

2 memorials