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Memorial details

Memorial type
Board / Plaque / Tablet
District
Tower Hamlets
Town
Bromley By Bow
County
Greater London
Country
England
Commemoration
Second World War - civilians
Ceremony
  • Dedicated
    Date: 30 May 2023
    Attended by: Serving and retired firefighters from Poplar and Beckenham, and friends.
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
53170

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Current location

Old Palace Primary School
St Leonards Street
Bromley By Bow
Tower Hamlets
Greater London
E3 3BT
England

OS Grid Ref: TQ 37858 82840
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
New Plaque - Metal oval plaque with red line border and inscription within. Original Plaque - Large blue glazed tile with white lettering set into the exterior white tiled wall of the school
Inscription
New Plaque - In memory of 11 members of the London/Auxiliary Fire Service, 21 members of the/Beckenham Auxiliary Fire Service and 1 London/Fireman who dies on this site during World War/II, on the night of 19th\20th April 1941 when the/school, then in use as sub-fire station 24U, under/24 Brunswick Road, received a direct hit from a/high-explosive bomb./[names]/This is the largest loss of Fire Service personnel in/Britain, in a single incident. Original Plaque - In memory of the 13 London firemen/ and women and 21 Beckenham/ firemen killed on the night/ of 19th April 1941 when a bomb/ destroyed the old school building being/ used as a sub-fire station./ this is the largest single loss of Fire/ Brigade personnel in English history./ Details of this tragic incident were recorded in/ the wartime diaries of Mr W Sumerville/ an off duty member of the Homerton crew./ it is to him and the many thousands of men/ and women that made up the A.F.S. and N.F.S./ 1939-1945 that this plaque is also dedicated.
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Second World War - civilians
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: no
    Information shown: Year died, place of death, manner of death, occupation
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Plaque
    Measurements: height 610mm, width 610mm
    Materials: Undefined
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-53170

For queries, please contact [email protected].