Auxiliary fireman killed in the bomb attack on Henry Cavendish School, Balham.
Our colleague Andrew Behan has kindly researched this man: Auxiliary Fireman Walter Henry Childs was born on 27 March 1900. In mid 1939 he married Violet Grace Browning in Wandsworth and the electoral register for that year shows they were living at 63 Carminia Road, Tooting. She had previously been married to a John Fisher. The 1939 England and Wales Registers show him stationed as an auxiliary fireman at the Trinity Road, Wandsworth, Fire Station and records his normal occupation as a Hairdresser, whilst his wife is recorded at 63 Carminia Road and as Driver in the Women's Auxiliary Fire Service.
He died, aged 40 years, on 6 November 1940 from injuries resulting from enemy action at AFS Fire Station 86W, that was located in the Cavendish Road School, Balham. The school was rebuilt after the war following the bomb damage and is now the Henry Cavendish Primary School, Hydethorpe Road, Balham. He is buried in Wandsworth Cemetery, Magdalene Road, London, SW18 3NP and is commemorated in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour, located just outside the entrance to St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey, London.
Note: Andrew points out that both the Firefighters Memorial Trust and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission websites give his age at death as 41 years but that contradicts the Register records.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
