On 3rd March 1943 the siren sounded at 8.17pm. People made their way in the pitch dark of the blackout to file in an orderly manner down the steps to the unfinished Bethnal Green underground station, which had been used as an air-raid shelter since 1940. At 8.27pm the searchlight went on and 3 buses unloaded their passengers at the shelter entrance. Suddenly those waiting to enter the single, narrow doorway heard the unfamiliar, deafening sound of a new anti-aircraft rocket batter firing nearby. They assumed it was deadly enemy bombs exploding. At that same moment a woman with a child fell at the bottom of the wet, slippery stairway and others fell on top of her. The crowd above continued pressing forward, unable to see what was happening below in the dark. Before anyone could get up more people were falling on top of them. A complete jam of about 300 people, five or six deep, built up within seconds. People couldn’t move, pinned down by the weight of those above them – and then they couldn’t breathe. It was 11.40pm before the last of the 173 dead were pulled out – 84 women, 62 children and 27 men. Over 90 were injured. Many more suffered life-long trauma, particularly the rescuers.

The Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster turned out to be the worst civilian disaster of the 2nd World War yet no bombs were involved. The official report (published after the war) revealed that the local Council had asked the government three times, 2 years earlier, for permission to alter the entrance to make it safer, but had largely been refused. These measures might not have made any difference to the tragedy – we will never know.

In the book ‘Mr. Morrison’s Conjuring Tricks’ the author Rick Fountain sets out the evidence of a government cover up. He states that in 1941 Bethnal Green Council had written to the government asking for permission to alter the station entrance and make it safer if a lot of people wanted to use it. The Government department refused and the Borough Engineer wrote a stronger worded letter explaining that the entrance and stairway needed several measures to make them safer. Again the government refused permission. The Council’s borough engineer wrote a third time to plead for permission to alter the entrance, but was largely refused. The day after the disaster all these measures sought by the Council were put in place. However, Bethnal Green Council was made to keep their earlier letters secret, under the Official Secrets Act. Statements given in Parliament, after the secret official inquiry had taken place, hinted that the victims were to blame. This ensured the event was kept as secret as possible. This was partially to prevent the enemy using it for propaganda purposes and to ensure that people continued to use the tube stations as shelters to keep them safe. Apparently, according to the book, it also saved the Home Secretary of the day, Herbert Morrison, from having to resign. The Mayor of Bethnal Green was not allowed to defend herself and was largely blamed for the tragedy.

The secret official report, and the summing-up by the judge in the one court case that followed, agreed that there had been no panic on the part of the victims so they were not to blame. The final statement about the report was read out in Parliament by another MP as Herbert Morrison had a cold on that day. So no questions could be asked. By suggesting that the victims were to blame it was the Hillsborough of its day.

PLEASE DONATE TO THE MEMORIAL FUND.
On-line / credit card

You can donate by clicking on the ‘donate’ button above. Details of the appeal and other ways to donate to the trust can be found on the ‘Appeal’ page. If you have any additional fund raising ideas please let us know.

Registered Charity Number 1118618. Memorial designed by Harry Paticas of Arboreal Architecture.

Exhibition at Bancroft Road library

The exhibition will be running for the whole of March 2020 until 4^th April as part of ‘Women’s History Month’. It shows a number of individual stories about some of the women and girls involved in the Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster. Our wonderful patron Tommy Walsh and his wife Marie joined us for the launch, along with young Scott who was dressed as Postman Pat for the evening. The first talk took place on Saturday 7^th March and included survivor Babs Clark giving us an explanation about her experience of the disaster. At the end she was presented with a small bucket of daffodils by our charity Chair Joyce Hampton. This was in honour of her appearance on the Tony Robinson ‘History of Britain’ programme in which she talked about how they had to go to the toilet in a bucket in the tube shelter during the war. The talks on Thursday evenings will highlight the part played by a number of strident and famous women in the East End over the years. The first is on 12^th March by Joyce Hampton, on 19^th March by Kate Thompson, and then on 26^th March by our architect Harry Paticas about the trials and tribulations of building our Memorial. The talks start at 6.30pm and finish by 7.30pm

The Memorial Service to mark the 77th anniversary of the Bethnal Green tube disaster took place on Sunday 1st March at St. John on Bethnal Green Church (next to Bethnal Green tube station). We were so delighted to see so many people despite the previous day’s rain and worries about coronavirus. The sun shone all day and the Service was so thoughtfully conducted by Fr. Alan Green who said that the permanent memorial that stands opposite will ensure that the victims and survivors will always be remembered. Prayers were said for them and the survivors and everyone that had been affected by the worst civilian disaster of WW2. As the names of the victims were read out by members of our committee and our Patron, TV’s Tommy Walsh, 173 candles were lit on the alter to remember them. After the Service supporters, relatives and survivors paraded across the road along with the Pearly Kings & Queens, local MP Rushanara Ali and Patron Tommy Walsh led by Nick Ridsdale, carrying the Standard of the Civil Defence Association, to lay wreaths and flowers on the Memorial. A short blessing was given and a minute’s silence to remember all involved in the tragedy. We then returned to the church for much needed hot drinks supplied by a wonderful team from Starbucks across the road and enjoyed cakes donated by members of the committee and some of our supporters. A beautiful painting of the Memorial in springtime had been produced and framed by our charity’s Chair, Joyce Hampton, and this was raffled. Young Scott Smith picked the winning ticket which turned out to be one of Raju Vaidyanathan’s. He then decided that we should auction the painting instead. The auction caused much merriment but was eventually secured by Lynda Hiscoke. Over £230 was raised from the painting and Joyce has vowed to make some prints and cards of the scene to sell in aid of the Memorial maintenance fund. More photos of the day can be seen on our photo media page.

Women’s Month Exhibition Honours those involved in the BG disaster in March.

The ‘Women’s Perspective’ exhibition that we are helping to organise for ‘Women in History’ month at Bancroft Road library will open on 4th March until 4th April. You can go along and look at the exhibition any time that the library is open – on Tuesdays 10am-5pm, Wednesdays 9am until 5pm, Thursdays 9am to 8pm and the first and 3rd Saturday in the month 9am until 5pm. There will also be talks arranged that are free to attend, but you will need to apply for tickets in advance as numbers will be limited, as follows:

On Saturday 7th March at 2.30pm-4pm Babs Clark will talk about her experience in the disaster and Sandra will give some background about what happened and bring in some of the amazing women and girls that were involved.

On Thursday 12th March 6pm to 7.30pm Joyce Hampton (author of ‘Looking Back, a Century of Life in Bethnal Green’ and ‘The Story of the Huguenots’) will take us on a journey through the 20th century exploring the impact on Bethnal Green of two World Wars and how social changes affected local families and women in particular, including how some women helped shape some of the changes.

On Thursday 19th March 6pm to 7.30pm author/journalist Kate Thompson will be joined by local resident Sarah Richards in engaging discussions revealing the richness, power and complexity of the life of a Bethnal Green matriarch (or ‘chief female’).

On Thursday 26th March 6pm until 7.30pm Harry Paticas MBE, (Arboreal Architecture) will share his experience about designing our Memorial and devoting years in collaboration with our charity in helping to ensure it was built.
To book tickets for the talks please email: localhistory@towerhamlets.gov.uk . Tickets are free but numbers are limited.

HARRY PATICAS, MEMORIAL ARCHITECT IS AWARDED THE MBE

We are delighted to announce that the architect that designed our Memorial, Harry Paticas or Arboreal Architecture, has been awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours 2020. We are so pleased that all his hard work, helping us with the memorial project over 12 years, has been acknowledged in this way.

Our Chairman, Joyce Hampton, is an accomplished author. She has written two books that you will find interesting and possibly could consider buying as Christmas presents. The first is “Looking Back: A Century of Life in Bethnal Green”. You probably think that you know all about the history of Bethnal Green but when you read this you will be amazed to discover lots of new things that you had no idea about. It is very readable too, and there are lots of places and characters in it that you might know if you have lived there a long time, or that your family members will probably know.

The other book is “The Story of the Huguenots” also by Joyce Hampton . If you have ancestors that might have come from Huguenot stock or just want to find out about the dreadful time they experienced in France before coming to London and settling in the East End, then this is the book for you. It is a fascinating read and something that you can dip into.

Both books would make ideal Christmas presents and can be downloaded from Amazon or to contact the author to order a signed copy please contact her on Facebook or directly by email at: hampton.joyce14@yahoo.com.

DEREK’S FUNERAL: Our Trustee, Treasurer, Fund-Raising Lead, Derek Spicer’s funeral was attended by about 100 people which shows how well-loved and popular he was. He would have been delighted to know that over £832 was donated in lieu of flowers and there will be Gift Aid to come on top of some of those donations too. We all miss him very much and are now trying to find a way to honour his contribution to the Memorial project.

RIP DEREK SPICER

We are sorry to announce the death of Derek Spicer, our much loved Treasurer and Fund-raising co-ordinator. Derek has been the rock of the charity, having helped to set up the first bank account as soon as we received our charitable status and supported everything we did, as his brother and sister died in the Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster. Derek has been part of all the fund-raising events, working really hard and often long hours, whatever the weather, along with other committee members over the last 12 years. Derek could often be seen shaking buckets around Bethnal Green tube station and giving talks to local schools. He would regularly visit the memorial and sweep up any rubbish left lying around and always took the wreaths and flowers off everyone to place them carefully on the Memorial after our Annual Commemoration Services in March. He had continued his roles right up until February when he became ill.

Derk was also well known in the local community in Tower Hamlets. In his youth he played for Leyton Orient Youth Side and then went on to coach at all levels of football for over 40 years. He became an icon with the Bangladesh Youth Movement (BYM) and was head coach of a team that toured Bangladesh in the 1990’s. He was so successful that on his return their best players formed the triumphant local team Sporting Bengal. He continued to work in the local community coaching ‘hard to reach’ young people who were at risk of exclusion and was seen every Friday, come rain or shine, doing what he loved best , coaching at Mile End Stadium until fairly recently. Until he became ill he had also been helping his local church in Brentwood, Essex, fund-raise for urgent restoration work.

His funeral is on Wednesday 4th September at the Bentley Crematorium, Ongar Road, Brentwood, Essex CM15 9RZ at 11.30am. Donations in lieu of flowers will be to the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust charity that he worked so hard for. To donate click on the donation button above on this page or go onto the appeal page.

MEMORIAL SERVICE 3RD MARCH 2019

The Memorial Service to mark the 76th anniversary of the Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster took place on Sunday 3rd March at 2pm at St. John on Bethnal Green Church (next to Bethnal Green tube station). Over 200 people attended. Fr. Alan Green, Rector of St. John’s Church, organised the Service and lit 173 candles on the altar, helped by Revd Christine Hall, as the names of the victims were read out by members of the charity committee who lost loved ones in the disaster. It was interesting to hear from Fr. Green that many of the local children of all faiths, knew about the disaster from school or visiting the Memorial. After the Service we paraded across the road to lay wreaths and flowers. The parade was led by Nick Ridsdale carrying the standard of the Civil Defence Association. MP Rushanara Ali, Tower Hamlets Mayor John Biggs and our Patron Tommy Walsh followed, along with several Pearly Kings & Queens, survivors and families of those involved in the disaster. Fr. Green led the minute’s silence and gave a blessing before everyone returned to the church where tea/coffee and cakes were available. The staff at Starbucks across the road are to be thanked for providing the hot drinks. We are also very grateful to everyone at St. John’s Church for providing such a poignant and comforting service.

173 candles being lit on the altar of St. John’s Church while the names of the victims are read out. during the 2019 Memorial Service. All photos copyright Evelyn Teichmann/Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust 2019. All Rights Reserved.

The RIBA National Award certificate above and our architect, Harry Paticas, with the RIBA Award plaque.

The great news is that the Memorial has received the RIBA London Award 2018 and the RIBA London Project Architect has been awarded to our wonderful architect and Memorial designer,Harry Paticas of Arboreal Architecture. The latest news is that it has also been awarded the RIBA National 2018 award and a plaque and certificates were presented to us at their award ceremony in July. This is an amazing achievement as our Memorial was given this award alongside some iconic buildings such as the Royal Albert Museum Quarter in Exhibition Road, the New Tate St. Ives, Liverpool’s Royal Court, Durham’s Cathedral Open Treasure and also the Bloomberg London HQ and The Leadenhall Building London (known as the ‘Cheesegrater’ skyscraper). All of these projects costs millions of pounds compared to our modest £457,000. So, this is a huge thank-you to our architect Harry Paticas who worked way above and beyond his role to help us keep costs down and to ensure that the Memorial was built so perfectly and in time for its unveiling in December 2017. A big thank-you also to our main contractor Coniston Limited and all the people involved in the various parts of the building process (listed on our acknowledgements page). They, alongside our committee, have worked so hard to complete the project. And of course a huge thank-you to everyone that contributed to the fund-raising and all those who donated money and time, and to the conical sponsors (listed on other pages). Without every one of you all this would never have happened.

The radio 2 interview with survivor Babs Clark on the Jeremy Vine Show in march can be listen to here with some more photos kindly organised by Chris Stanfield:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJvvzyu1tjs