John Lewis in 2014

On Friday 17th January 2014 I took the following photos of the site of the John Lewis fire from 1940 (see 30th December 2013 post).  The first photo is from Oxford Street looking to the old West House (flags flying), with the site of the East House nearer to the camera and is from a smilar position to the first photo in the 1940 collection:

Walking a little closer, the second photo is on the same alignment as the 2nd, 3rd and 4th photos from 1940 and shows the corner of the building where the domed tower stood:

The traffic junction is with Holles Street.
The third photo looks down Holles Street:

The fourth view is the same photo but looking back up Holles Street towards Oxford Street:

The final photo shows the view of the back of the store from Cavendish Square - this is a possible site where the firemen coming from St Marylebone might have parked their vehicles.

John Lewis's, Oxford Street - night of the 17th-18th September 1940

The full-scale night bombing of London was only just over a week old when - through design or chance - the Luftwaffe targeted the area of London around Oxford Street and north to Marylebone Road.  Bombs were dropping by 9.45pm and continued for at least four hours; just after midnight, flames were noticed coming from John Lewis's store, standing on the same site in Oxford Street as it does today.
A fuller account is given at the excellent West End at War website:

http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/page_id__11_path__0p28p.aspx

The first photo was taken from Oxford Street in 1939 and is looking west towards Marble Arch.  The road behind the bus is Holles Street and this divided the two shops that made up John Lewis's - the store on the left with the dome was called the West House and the building on the near corner was the East House.  Holles Street runs up to Cavendish Square.

The second photo shows a similar view, but from roughly four floors up, shortly after the bombing.  Two hosepipes are being played on the wreckage from Oxford Street on the left but it is evident the main damage in the West House was around the corner with the façade a pile of rubble in Holles Street and the inside of the building entirely gutted.

The third photo seems to be taken at a similar time to the one above, with firemen still working and smoke still rising within West House.  Their attention is on the East House, which had been affected by fire spreading from the West House in the night.



The fourth photo seems to have been taken some time later because the firemen have now left but the rubble in Holles Street was not yet clear.  The photo also reveals that much of the rear of the building on Cavendish Square seemed to have survived.

As the account on the West End at War website makes clear, three firemen were feared killed when a bomb exploded nearby; however, an eyewitness was reported to have seen them getting in a taxi.
Inspection of the list of civilian war dead held by Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) shows two firemen died that night, named Harold Gillard and Donald Mackenzie.


Harold Gillard

Harold Colenso Gillard was born in early 1900, the son of a plumber, John, and Rosa, and lived at 77 East Street in Marylebone (parallel to Baker Street).  There were seven children in all, the oldest four being boys (Harold was third) and the youngest three being girls.

His unusual middle name, Colenso, was a battle in the 2^nd Boer War (15^th December 1899).  One source says this was because his father fought there, but as John was a 38-year old plumber at the time, this seems unlikely.  Another possibility is that while the battle was a British defeat, there was considerable publicity for four soldiers awarded the Victoria Cross for saving two artillery guns under fire; the citation in the London Gazette appeared on 2^nd February 1900 and may have inspired John and Rose to name their new baby.  (Perhaps the same patriotism inspired 40-year old Harold to volunteer for the AFS?)

East Street was re-named Chiltern Street around this time, and today the house looks like this (the bigger white building on the right is the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes Hotel):

One family lived on each floor, including the basement.  While they moved to different premises, times must have been hard, and then John, his father died, in 1914.  We then lose sight of the family, until 1924 when the electoral roll has him living at 81 East Street, immediately next the hotel in the photo above; his mother and younger brother also lived there and younger siblings not yet eligible to vote may have lived with them.  We do not know what Harold did for a living, but his older brother had started worker at a  decorators, so it is possible he followed his father into some branch of the building trade.

Harold seems to have married in 1926, to Nellie Hodgkins, but his wife does not appear at the same address until 1928.  Almost every year sees a change of address and people resident there; his wife is last mentioned in 1932 and in 1936 he married again, to Mildred Chambers.  He left East Street in 1938 to live in Lisson Grove with his wife, at 32 Portman Buildings:

This would have been the building he left when he went on duty on Tuesday 17th September 1940.

Harold's mother died in 1947, his second wife in 1967.


Donald Mackenzie

Donald was born around 1907 to Duncan, a tailor from Inverness-shire, and Rebecca, a farmer's daughter from Norfolk.  His parents were comparatively old when he was born (51 and 39), yet he also had two younger sisters.

In 1911, the family lived at 44 New Cavendish Street where Duncan worked from home, but then they slip from view and the electoral roll next shows Duncan in 1929 living not far away, at 14 Marylebone Street, with his mother (seemingly widowed).  He still lived there in 1940, still with his mother, but with a revolving cast of siblings and other relatives.

We do not know what he did for a living but he may have followed his father as a tailor.

It's striking that Harold and Duncan both lost their fathers when fairly young and were living with their widowed mothers for years after - we can only speculate what effect this had on Harold's first marriage.  Both men were living within a stone's throw of where they were born, local boys who would have known the streets on the way to the fire.

We can only speculate whether they were part of the same Auxiliary Fire Service crew, but the balance of probabilities is that they were (they came from the same area and are likely to have been working close together when the bomb exploded).  We do not know what their experiences had been over the past week - had they been to fight fires in the docks? how tired were they? - and we do not know why they were sent to this incident rather than the fire in Great Portland Street or the bomb that had exploded at Marble Arch Tube.

So much is unknown.

High Holborn 2014

I visited High Holborn on Friday 17th January 2014 and took the following photos with my (not very good) camera phone. The first photo looks across from the Chancery Lane Tube entrance (left)to the site of the wrecked building at Number 12:

In the last photo I posted from 1940 (2nd January post) the man in the chef's hat would have been on the left of this photo.

For the second photo I was standing where the red bus waited on the left of the first photo.  I am looking across the street to Dorothy Perkins, which has the street address 8-13 High Holborn:

 This is where the men were digging in the rubble.
For the third photo I moved to a traffic island and looked back towards Grays Inn Road.  This is a reasonable approximation for the first of the black and white photos from the 2nd January post:

The final photo shows the Prudential Building, the towers having been visible in the gloom at the back of the 1940s photos:

High Holborn - more brief biographies

Died at Grays Inn Road

Princess Catherine Galitzine

From http://www.thepeerage.com/p11201.htm#i112007

Ekaterina Gräfin von Carlow was born on 25 July 1891 at Oranienbaum, Russia. She was the daughter of Georg Alexander Herzog von Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Nataliya Feodorovna Vanljarskya. She married Prince Vladimir Emmanuelovich Galitzine on 10 February 1913 at St. Petersburg, Russia. 

She gained the title of Gräfin von Carlow. From 10 February 1913, her married name became Gräfin Galitzine.

Her son, Emanuel’s, obituary in The Daily Telegraph gives some more detail:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1418277/Prince-Emanuel-Galitzine.html

“A great-grandson of Emperor Paul I (a son of Catherine the Great), Prince Emanuel Vladimirovich Galitzine was born on May 28 1918 at Kislvodsk, a spa town in the Caucasus. Before the Revolution, his father had served as aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, head of all the Russian armies until 1916, and afterwards commander of the southern troops confronting Turkey. Emanuel's mother [Ekaterina] was a daughter of Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

In 1919, conditions in the new Russia obliged the family to flee. They had packed their belongings in wicker laundry baskets, and were ready to leave, when Emanuel's mother realised that she had mislaid her wedding ring. Deciding that this was a bad omen, they postponed their departure - later learning that the train on which they would have travelled had been attacked by the Bolsheviks, and every passenger killed.

In the event, the family (including Emanuel's two younger brothers) managed to embark on a Royal Navy ship in the Crimea, which took them to Constantinople. They made their way by train to Paris, home to many White Russian exiles.

Emanuel's father, Prince Vladimir Galitzine, preferred to settle in England, however, thinking that his sons would benefit from a public school education. Accordingly, they went to London, where Prince Vladimir opened a shop in Berkeley Square selling Russian objets d'art; Queen Mary was a regular customer. Emanuel was sent to Lancing and St Paul's, the school fees often being settled by the provision of family paintings (brought out from Russia) in lieu of cash.”

In 1940, Ekaterina’s husband was working for British Intelligence, and she may have been working as a censor.  They lived at 131 Croxted Road, West Dulwich.

Ekaterine was wounded in the attack but died the same day at the Royal Free Hospital.

 Peggy Margaret Zella Taylor

Margaret Zella Taylor was born 1916, daughter of William (born 1876) and Isabella Zella Taylor (nee Waite, 1886-1981).  Her father was an insurance clerk for Norwich Union (1911 Census – they must have been reasonably affluent as the newly-weds lived alone in a house with 6 rooms!).  While CWGC gives her name as “Peggy Margaret”, Peggy is a version of the name Margaret, and the CWGC record may have recorded the name by which she was known and her birth name as well.

At the time of her death she was living at 4 Thurlow Road, in Belsize Park; her parents lived in Middleton-on-Sea, Bognor Regis.

Died at High Holborn
Ernest Joshua Garner

Ernest was born in 1923 to Edith Muriel Sparks (1898-1982) and Ernest Everard Garner (1896-1968), who had been married in 1920.

In the 1901 Census his father lived in Lower Sydenham, working as a messenger (aged 5), one of 13 children, five of whom had died.  His father’s father was a sulphate maker in the gasworks.

In 1940 the family was living at 19 Hardings Lane, Beckenham.

Ernest was wounded in the attack but died the same day at the Royal Free Hospital.

Leonard David Merrygold

Leonard was born in April 1890, son of George (1858-1912, a printing machine minder) and Hannah Jane (nee carter, 1858-1943, a tin maker).  He had two older siblings in 1891 and they lived with their 15-year old domestic servant at 14 Powell Street, Holborn.

In 1901 they were still there but by 1911 they were in Highbury, at 57 Grosvenor Road, and Leonard worked as a “tinman making surgical cases”.  His elder brothers were (i) a gold and silver walking stick maker and (ii) a sign writer for shop fitter. His sister was a shop assistant (possibly in umbrella and walking stick shop).  They lived with two lodgers (a German businessman and a Swiss Banker) and one servant.

On 29^th April 1916 Leonard married Daisy Hake at St Pauls, Canonbury.  At this time he was working as a sheet metal worker for Royal Naval Air Service; his rank was Air Mechanic (First Class).  His father had died by now, as had his wife’s father (he had been a furrier, Daisy had being a sewing machine worker in fur).

In 1921 they lived at 36 Herbert Street, Hackney.  In 1923 their son Ronald was born.  By 1930 they had moved to 43 Wilton Road, Friern Barnet; they were still there on the day Leonard died.

Leonard was an Associate Member of the Institute of Engineering. 

Leonard was injured in the attack and died on the same day in Barts Hospital in London.

The National Probate Calendar records his effects as £419 and his widow, Daisy, was named.  After the war, Daisy may have emigrated to South Africa.

Patricia Eardley Pearson

Patricia was born in Kensington in 1915, daughter of Geoffrey Greenwood Pearson (1883-1951) and Sylvia (nee Eardley-Wilmott, 1881-1964).  Sylvia’s father was a colonel in the army; Geoffrey’s family was affluent – aged 8 he lived with his family and a butler, footman, nurse, two nursemaids, a cook and a kitchen-maid.

In 1940 she lived at 37 Barons Court Road, Kensington.

In the National Probate Calendar, her effects were valued at £7952 (resworn £5489, I’m not sure what this means).  Her father was described as an air raid warden.

Died at High Holborn, between Grays Inn Road and Chancery Lane

Ellen Iris Cotton Gallop

This lady was born towards the end of 1909 in Bristol.  Her parents were Arthur Henry Gallop (1875-1929), a law writer from Bristol, and his wife Gwendoline de Saumarez (nee Harwood, 1883-?) from Watford.  Her mother’s unusual name could be attributed to her father having been a captain in the Royal Navy and having travelled to foreign ports.  (Her father was also 22 years older than her mother.

In the 1911 Census the family – parents and two daughters Dorothy and Iris – at 360 High Road, Tottenham.

In 1940 she lived at 21 Lawn Close, Ruislip in 1940 with her widowed mother.

Edward William Smith

Edward was born in 1925, and had at least one older sister.  His parents were Emily Bessie Dooley (1900-1987) and Edward Smith (1895-?), who were married at the end of 1921.

Died at High Holborn, by Chancery Lane

Leonard Anslow

He was born in the third quarter of 1884 in Orsett, Essex, a few miles north of Tilbury Docks.  His parents were Edward (1854-1925?), a carpenter and farrier, and Elizabeth (1854?-?).

In 1911 he lived with his parents and two brothers in Manor Park, east London, working as a law clerk.

He married Lilian, possibly Lilian Payne in 1916 in Holborn.  They may have had three children, Doris, Iris, Frank.

In 1940 he lived at Holmfield, Doddinghurst Estate, Brentwood (probably in Brook Lane).

The National Probate Calendar specifies the place of his death as Holborn, corner of Chancery Lane.

His effects were valued at £264 17/1 and Lilian was named.

Ronald Walter Bailey

Ronald was born in 1916 to Alfred James (1877-1949) and Charlotte Sophia (nee Loades, 1879-1963), both from Norfolk; they had been married on 14/11/1897 (Alfred was a milkman 1897-1911 at least)

1911 Census 6 children, 5 alive

In 1940, Ronald lived at 33 Clifton Way, Asylum Road, Peckham.

William Baugh

William was born in March 1901 in Hackney, son of Jack (John) and Emma Julia (nee Phillips).  In the 1911 Census the family (parents plus 7 children) lived in Edmonton, with John’s employment described as “machine ruler”, working in stationery (possibly printing paper?).  William’s oldest brothers worked as fountain pen repairer and fountain pen fitter respectively.

William married Amelia Caroline Dicks in Hackney in 1926.

They may have had three children: Malcolm (1931-1935), Margaret (1935-1969) and Ewing (1939-?).

In 1940 William was a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service, and lived at 8 Grasmere Road, Barnehurst.

The National Probate Calendar gave his place of death as Chancery Lane.  His effects were valued at £851 1/11, and named his widow, Amelia.

Ada Elizabeth Brignell

This lady was born Ada Elizabeth Cannon at the end of 1896 in West Ham.

In 1911 she lived in Plaistow with her parents (Henry, a bricklayer, and Emily), one of 9 children, 7 of whom were still alive and living at home. Her eldest siblings were a railway porter and two working in a factory for Western Electric.

In 1923 she married Horace George Henry Brignell (1898-1960, died on Christmas Day – son of a dock labourer) in West Ham.

They had one son, Dennis Horace, Albert Brignell (1924-1944).

In 1940 they lived in 12 Galsworthy Square, Grays Inn Road.

Horace remarried in 1942 to Doris Pilmer.

Ada’s son, Dennis did not survive the war.  On Friday 24^th March 1944 a Halifax bomber of 78 Squadron took off from Breighton (south of York) bound for Berlin at 18.59.  A fix was received at 22.45 and a message that the plane was returning to base with engine trouble.  At 22.55 the aircraft received permission to land at Cranfield as an emergency but the plane was coming in low and slow; it stalled, crashed and caught fire near Hulcote, a mile short of the runway.  (Hulcote is by Junction 13 of the M1).

The crew of seven were all killed:

1800930 Sgt (Air Gnr) Dennis Horace Albert Brignell, RAFVR, 19, of Holborn, London.   412970 Flg Off (Air Bomber) Reginald Stanislaus Kelly, RAAF, 21, of Ermington, NSW.   1334523 Flt Sgt (Nav) William Harold Shields, RAFVR, 21, of Cricklewood, Middlesex.  150168 Flg Off (Plt) Michael Arabin Wimberley, RAFVR, 21, of Rowlands Castle, Hampshire. Above 4 buried at Cambridge City Cemetery.
1523593 Sgt (Flt Engr) Harold James Neal, RAFVR, and 641893 Sgt (Air Gnr) Horatio Robert Nelson, RAF, 22, of Liverpool. Both buried at Liverpool (Anfield) Cemetery.  1324941 Sgt (W.Op/Air Gnr) Leslie James Edge, RAFVR, 21, of Valence. St Mary Churchyard, Westerham, Kent.

(From http://www.mackz.net/cm_samplearchive.htm)

Sheila Winifred Mabel Callam

We can work out Sheila was born in 1921 but ancestry.co.uk seems to have no record of her birth; one possibility to consider is she was born overseas but this seems unlikely.

Her parents were Arthur Frank (worked as a dispensing chemist, 1896-1941) and Mabel (nee Neale, possibly born 1899 in Lambeth).

Sheila possibly had two siblings: Ronald AE (1920-1922) and Eileen M (1935-?, married Raymond Eden).

In 1940 they lived at 92 Queen Anne Avenue, Bromley.

Sheila’s father died just over four months later (24/2/41) but he is not listed as a ‘Blitz casualty’.

Clifford Spencer Cowan

Clifford was born 1921 q3 in Fulham to Frederick William (1889-1955) and Eleanor Gertrude (nee Arnold, possibly 1886-); they were married in 1915. 

Eleanor was also known as Elinor and Eleonora, and was from Bedford (which I note only because it is my home town). 

Frederick was from Portsmouth; his occupation in the 1911 Census was “ornamental decorator’s mounter” in the Decorating Department of Maples.  (When he died the National Probate calendar gave his effects as £2,960 10/7.)

In 1940 they lived at 25 Winchester Road, Kenton.

Clifford was one of the eleven people who survived the bombing but died in hospital, in this case at the Royal Free then on Grays Inn Road.

He was buried on Monday 14^th October at St Andrew, Kingsbury – presumably http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St_Andrew's_Church,_Kingsbury

Mack Greenberg

Very little is available about this man.  He was born in 1890 to parents Hoscher and Blema; in 1940 they lived in Plaistow.

Mack was a US Citizen and was living in the Cumberland Hotel, by Marble Arch.

There is a photo of his grave here:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=GRE&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GScntry=5&GSsr=2281&GRid=24646843&

Note that the name on headstone is Mack Green.

Joan Ellen Hill

Very little is available on this lady.  We can deduce she was born about 18921 but the only match I can find on ancestry.co.uk is 1923 and that is to Joan EE Hill.

Her mother’s first name was Ellen and in 1940 they lived at 71 Farmstead Road, Catford.

Frederick Lambert

Frederick was born in February 1899, to Frederick (1870-?) and Emma Rapley (1872-?), who had married in August 1891.

He was baptised on the Sunday 19^th March 1899 at Emmanuel Church, Distin Street, Lambeth, close to the Lambeth Walk (father’s occupation “general dealer”).

In the 1911 Census both his parents were described as “street hawkers” (presumably selling goods from a market stall or barrow).  Frederick had 9 siblings, 8 of whom were still alive.  The eldest, Jane, was a domestic servant.  Emily (aged 15) looked after the house, presumably in addition to the youngest (Thomas aged 2 and Jack, under 1).  In all 11 people lived in 4 rooms at 58 Fitzalan Street.

He married Florence Ashley (1900-1988) on Sunday 15^th May 1921 at the same church where he was baptised.  His father’s occupation was given as “costermonger”, and Frederick’s occupation as “shop assistant”.  Florence’s father was a bricklayer but had died; no occupation was given for her.  (She started to sign her name as Florence Lambert but had to cross out the surname part way through and replace it with “Ashley”.)

They had one child, Frederick (1921-1979).

In 1940, they lived at 12 Charlecote Road, Dagenham.

Samuel Linden

Born 1925 in Whitechapel, Samuel was the son of Reuben (?1889-1975) and Betsy (nee Weltman, aka Weldman, married 1919 in Mile End).

In the 1938 Post Office Directory Reuben was listed as a “gown manufacturer” working from home address, denoted as in wholesale.  The High Holborn bombing was in the heart of London’s legal quarter and, given the dress code for court at the time could include a gown, it is possible Samuel was in the area on 8^th October as part of his father’s business.

In 1940 they lived at 40 Goodge Street, although Betsy may have died by this point.

Samuel was an ARP member, possibly as a messenger (given his age).

Surprisingly for someone so young he is listed in the National probate Calendar where he is named as “Sam”, names his father, and valued his effects at £117 7/6.

Henry Mercer

Very little is known about this man.  He was probably born in 1880.  He was a resident in a hostel for working men from the 1930s onwards: this was Parker Street House, 25-37 Parker Street (off of Kingsway).

Maud Pannell

Maud was born in 1911, daughter of James (1884-1958) and Maud Gray (1885-1961), a postman and book folding binder respectively.

In the 1911 Census, her father was a sorter in the post office, living in 2 rooms at 43 Inville Road, Walworth.  She had an elder brother William Frederick; one other elder sibling had died.

In 1940 the family lived at 63 Casino Avenue, Herne Hill.

The NPC valued her effects at £410, and named her mother.

Henry Samuel Saunders

Compiling a biography for this man was complicated by the fact a man with a similar name was born in the same year.  I have assumed the man killed at High Holborn in 1940 was born in 1880, the birth being registered at St George’s, Hanover Square. (The other man was born in Colchester).

In the 1911 Census Henry lived with his mother at the Barossa Barracks, Aldershot; his father was a private in the 2^nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

The CWGC entry for his death records him as being married to “F. Saunders” and from the electoral roll he was living with Florence Saunders by 1928 (but not in 1926); however, I cannot find a record of their marriage.

In 1940 they lived at 10 Egerton Drive, Greenwich.

Ernest Horatio Spencer Step

He was born on Friday 15^th June 1877, to Horatio and Mary Ann (nee Sharp).  His baptism record shows his father was a carpenter and they lived at 15 Red Lion Street in Holborn (within a couple of hundred yards of the 1940 bombing).

In subsequent censuses, his father’s occupation changed to “carpenter master” with ‘1 man’ in brackets after (1881) and “carpenter/decorator” (1891).  In 1891, Ernest’s occupation was as a ”shop boy port” (I am unsure what this means).

By 1901 Ernest had five younger brothers; his occupation was “bookseller’s assistant” but unemployed.

He married in 1903 on Saturday 27^th June to Elizabeth Alice Susan Goodheart (1879-1931) – he was a packer for a publisher, she was a book folder (Elizabeth’s father was a cabinet maker).

They had two children Florence Elizabeth Mary (1904-1967) and Ernest Albert Spencer (1907-1995)

Times were not easy: in 1911 the young family was living in a single room at 15 Devonshire Street, off Theobald’s Road.

In the First World War he was a private in the army, in the Labour Corps and the Northamptonshire Regiment (“Norths R” according to his medal card).

In 1940 he lived at 15 Boswell Road, within about half-a-mile of High Holborn.

According to the NPC he left effects of £508 18/10, named person was his son who was a special war reserve police constable.

Henry James Warnett

He was born in q3 1890 to Henry (1865-1918) and Clara Mary Jane (nee Baldwin, 1861-1942) in Dick’s Green, Wrotham Kent (birth registered in Dunks Green, about 5 miles N of Tonbridge in Kent).

In the 1891 Census, his father a labourer in a paper mill; in the 1901 Census Henry senior was in the same occupation but on an engineering course – the family was living in the West Peckham area of Kent. Henry had at least 4 siblings.

By the 1911 Census Henry junior was listed as a stoker (1^st class) in the Royal Navy, stationed in “China & East India”.

He married in 1915, on Sunday 29^th August, at St Matthews in West Kensington.  His bride was Florence Elizabeth Pattenden (5/10/1889-Jun 1975), daughter of a chauffeur (previously a groom, spanning the arrival of the motor car).

His residence on his marriage certificate is HMS Sentinel and judging from the history of that ship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sentinel_(1904), he was probably anchored in the Humber.

His father’s occupation was now given as “engineer”, but both witnesses were from Florence’s family

They had one son, Henry John, born in 1917.

In 1925 (21st August) he was issued a medal by the Royal Navy for long service and good conduct; his rank was given as SPO presumably senior petty officer.

In 1940 he lived at 21 Porten Houses, Porten Road, West Kensington (by Olympia).

“Injured at Holborn”

Five people died in hospital having been “injured at Holborn”; apart from being the name of a street, this was also the name of the council area at the time, so it is unclear what this was referring to.  There was one other incident in the Holborn council area on the 8^th so we do not know for certain whether these five people were injured in this incident, the other one, or an unknown third incident.  However, all died at the Royal Free Hospital, then located in Grays Inn Road.  The other Holborn incident was near Covent Garden so the more natural place for evacuation for casualties from that incident would be Charing Cross Hospital on Agar Street by Trafalgar Square.  Therefore I have assumed all five people were injured in the High Holborn/Chancery Lane attack.

Stanley Lewis Chappell

Stanley was born in 1906, son of Fred (1871-?) and Minnie Adelaide (nee Palmer, 1869-1954); their marriage certificate lists Fred’s occupation as “fruit buyer” (Fred’s father’s occupation was “gentleman”!)  Minnie’s father had been a farmer but he was deceased.

In 1911 Stanley was living with his parents, an only child, with a 16 year-old servant at 164 Fordwych Road, Cricklewood.

Around 1924 Stanley started at university.

On 23^rd July 1926, Stanley and his father left London by ship, the Kaisar-I-Hind, which was bound for Bombay but their destination was Marseille.  Fred, described as “sugar merchant” and Stanley, described as “undergraduate”, were travelling first class.

Stanley married Ethel Joyce Howden (1907-?) in q2 1932, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.  Her father was a “scenic artist” (according to the 1911 Census – ancestry.co.uk interprets this as “science artist”).

In 1935 the couple boarded a Fred Olsen cruiser, “Betan Curia”, on Thursday 6^th June bound for the Canary Islands and travelling 1^st class.  Stanley’s occupation was “Lloyds underwriter”, and their home address Rose Cottage, Great Missenden, Bucks.  They disembarked at Tenereife, came back from Las Palmas a couple of weeks later.

In 1936 their only child, Marcus Stanley, was born in Amersham (died 2010 in Ottawa).

In 1940 Stanley’s address was given as 46b Clanricarde Gardens (by west end of Hyde Park); it’s possible this was flat in the centre of London in addition to the family home in Amersham.

He was an Air Raid Warden for the area of Kensington.

The NPC names his widow and father (occupation “retired produce broker”) and valued his effects at £13,899 6/1.

After the war Ethel may have emigrated to Canada and died in British Columbia.

Maurice and Tobias Bobby Lewis

Maurice was born in Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1889 to Mendel (born in Russia 1855-1924) and Miriam (born in East Prussia 1866-?).

In the 1901 Census, the family consisted of parents plus 9 children; a servant and two lodgers also lived with them.  Mendel was an antiques dealer, and his eldest son was an art student.

By the time of the 1911 Census Maurice was living with some of his brothers and sisters at 50 Great Russell Street (facing the entrance to the British Museum), and was working as a journalist.

In 1927 he married Frances May Fairs (1905-1951).  She was born in Tonbridge; her father’s occupation on her baptism record looks like “racket instructor”, but he died soon after - by 1911 she was living with her widowed mother and grandparents in Fulham

Tobias was born in 1929 (his middle initials were M.H. according to his birth record, but in the CWGC record of his death he was called “Tobias Bobby”; Bobby could have been a family nickname for him.)

He had two younger sisters, Carol A (1930-2006) and Miriam FL (1933-?).

From 1934 onwards Maurice crossed the Atlantic several times

1934 coming back to back to Southampton from New York on 28^th September

1935 31^st July – going from Southampton to New York on the Ile de France, in Tourist Class, described as author, address ‘Mountford’, Kings Langley Arrived at Southampton from NY on “Europa” on 29^th August.

1937 5^th September departed from Southampton to New York on “Westernland”

2^nd Nov arrived at Southampton from Buenos Aries on Normandie, address The Rookery, Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire.

In 1940 he lived at 14 Tavistock Place, Holborn.

Florence re-married to Richard Foster in 1941 q4, and seems to have moved to America and died in Vermont.

Angelina Betty Posener

I could find very few details about Angelina and her family.  We can deduce she must have been born in 1924 to Herman and Anna.  Her parents’ names may suggest they were migrants from another country.

In 1940 they lived at 56 Alkham Road, Stoke Newington.

Angelina survived the boming on Tuesday 8^th but died on Friday 11^th at the Royal Free Hospital.  She was the last victim of the attack to die.

Her father died in October 1945 his effects valued at £1757 7/9, naming his widow Joseph Posener, milk bar proprieter, presumably Angelina’s brother.

Eileen Mary Vosper

Eileen was born q1 1924 in Limehouse in the east End, daughter of Frederick J (1895-?) and Ellen (nee Mitchell, 1893-1979?).

She had at least six siblings: Frederick J, Walter W, Eileen M, Patricia, Joseph (1929-2004), and Terence.

In 1940, the family lived at 27 Soho Square, just south of Oxford Street.

Eileen survived to Thursday 10^th but died in the Royal Free.

Alice Margaret Webb

Alice was born in 1892 in Hobart, Tasmania.  Her parents were William Frego Webb (1847-1934) and Isabel Mary (1865-?)

In the 1911 Census her father’s occupation was “Bengal Dept of Education (retired on pension)”, and a web search shows he wrote several textbooks.  In 1911, the oldest daughter, Phillis, was a medical student, Alice was a student, and Roy was a musical student. There were 8 children in total and the family lived at 88 Airedale Avenue, Chiswick.

Two of her brothers died in France in the First World War, one in 1917 and one in 1918; one was in the army but the other was in the newly formed Royal Flying Corps.  In addition, the youngest sister died aged 24 in 1925.

In 1934 their father died, leaving effects valued at £30,724 15/-.

In 1940, Alice was living at 5 Alma Terrace, Allen Street, Kensington (according to the NPC, but Tatchley House, Dollis Avenue, Finchley according to CWGC).

She survived the bombing but died the next day in hospital.

In the NPC her effects were valued at £2172 19/8 and she named her siblings, Hope Evelyn Webb and Roy John Aldis Webb (musician).

Possibly involved

As we have seen, several people died at the Royal Free Hospital having been taken there after being injured in Holborn.  One man died at the same hospital on 8^th October and is listed in CWGC but with no record of where he was injured:

Walter Robert Story

However, other than his age and the fact he was “son of A. Story of 37 Grange Park, Ealing” I can find nothing else about him.

High Holborn - the morning of 8th October 1940

I had no idea fighter-bombers were used against London as early as 1940, yet on Tuesday 8^th October just before 9 am a raid took place that certainly hit targets across the centre of London, including Whitehall, at the very heart of British government. 

Following losses in a raid on 30^th September, the Germans switched their tactics for daylight raids in early October, with one-third of the available fighters (Messerschmitt Bf-109s) converted to carry a 250kg bomb (“Bishop “The Battle of Britain Day-by-Day” page 365).  The bomb-carrying fighter was referred to as a Jabo, the German term for a fighter-bomber.

Previous fighter ‘sweeps’ by large numbers of planes had been ignored by the RAF because they could only do a limited amount of harm and attacking them risked precious pilots and planes.  Bomb-carrying fighters could not be ignored because they could do serious, if isolated, damage.

The main aim was to draw the RAF into combat at high altitude, where the German planes had better performance.  It’s significant that on the 8^th October “… regular Jabo attacks … penetrated the defences by operating at increasingly greater height.” (“After the Battle: The Blitz volume 2”, page 169).  Bishop says that it took a Jabo at 30,000 feet 17 minutes to get from the coast to London, but it took the RAF planes 27 minutes to scramble and climb to the same height.  If the RAF planes were spotted climbing, the Germans could ditch their bombs and revert to a fighter role, attacking the RAF planes with the advantage of height.

So why didn’t the Germans use these tactics more often?  Jabos had the disadvantage of reducing the already limited range of their planes because of the extra weight.  They were also extremely unpopular with the pilots (see e.g. Goss “Luftwaffe Fighter-Bombers Over Britain”).  Planes were not pressurised and pilots suffered stomach cramps and sharp pains in their joints, similar to decompression in a deep-sea diver.  Apart from this the psyche of the fighter pilot seemed to have been of speed and single combat against a matched enemy.  The impression is of very young men signing up to drive a high-performance sports car and then being ordered to use it for door-to-door deliveries.

Just after 8.30am on the 8^th, over 50 German aircraft crossed the coast near Dungeness and attacked London.   They had fighter escorts flying at up to 32,000 feet. 

The most likely plane used was the Messerschmitt Bf-109E-7, shown here:

(from http://kevsaviationpics.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/messerschmitt-bf-109e-7-part-ii.html)

While years after the event the bombing was described as “scattered” and damage caused as “relatively slight” (North “The Many Not The Few” page 277) there were several very tragic incidents.  Writing the following day, Colin Perry reported, “Chancery Lane was bombed in the morning rush hour.  Charing Cross Station was hit, 8 killed and 27 injured.  Another bomb fell near Odhams reducing a building already scheduled for demolition, knocking in several shops and killing a number of people.  Victoria too – the Queen’s and the Palace Theatres are no more.  Buses in Chancery Lane were also hit, and the passengers killed, or seriously injured.  Such is the battle of London and as I write this by the Bank of England at any moment the Dorniers and Junkers [German aircraft] may whip from the clouds and blast us all to smithereens.” (“Boy in the Blitz”, pages 184-185).

At least one bomb dropped in High Holborn – from the photographic evidence, a building was destroyed and a bus was badly damaged, whether by blast, debris or a second bomb is uncertain.

I have found six photos of the aftermath.  The first was taken from street level in Holborn looking east:

The building in the far distance has a tower and this is still standing – it is Holborn Bars (‘the Prudential Building’) at 138-142 Holborn.  Given that this is on the north of the street, we can deduce the scene in the foreground is a few hundred yards to the west of that.

The wrecked building on the left is almost certainly 12 High Holborn, and housed Manzoni’s Restaurant.  The bus is just past the wreckage and on the left of the road suggesting the bus was heading away from the camera, towards Holborn and the City of London.  The bus seems likely to have been passing Number 12 as the bomb exploded.  There does not appear to be any glass in the windows of the bus and part of it may have been fire-damaged; however, it has stayed upright.

Zooming in on the left of the photo, we can see rescuers looking into the shattered building; they are almost certainly waiting to help others inside who are digging or listening for casualties.

Zooming in on the right of the photo we can see the bus has more damage than was initially apparent:

The rear of the bus is partly missing, revealing the stairs to the top deck.  The left side of the bus as we look at it has been ‘peeled back’ and the lower deck windows are leaning in, possibly as a result of having been hit by debris.  Just in front of the bus (to the left as we look) are the traffic lights at the junction of High Holborn and Grays Inn Road.

The white van on the right of the picture has its rear doors open and on the side it says “LCC” suggesting this was an ambulance.  Just above the ambulance roof we can see the Tudor frontage of the Staple Inn on the south-side of High Holborn.

The second photo contains the imprint of Getty Images – I hope they approve my use.

The damage to the bus can now be seen: all the window glass has been broken and the blast has knocked several of the wheels (and presumably the axles) out of alignment.  (The wording on the advert at the back of the bus is now revealed to be “Dunlop”.)  This also shows the neighbouring shops, numbers 1-11 High Holborn.

The third photo looks back into the wreckage of Number 12 and shows the number of rescuers present:

The role of the rescue team was to tunnel into the rubble towards possible survivors – the wreckage was often unstable and having a large number of people all tearing at it with their hands could have caused it to collapse onto survivors or to bring down damaged parts of the building onto the rescuers.

The final photo was taken seemingly a little later from either the Staple Inn or the building next to it and looking across the entrance to an underground station which we can now identify as Chancery Lane. 

The junction with Grays Inn Road would be just out-of-frame to the right.  The rescue parties have gone but the wreckage remains.  The damaged bus also remains; looking at the top left of the bus we can see the damage shown in previous photos.  Note the man in the chef’s hat watching on the left of the photo.

The fourth photo was probably taken from this building:

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission list of civilian war dead suggests

four people died at 12 High Holborn

fifteen died at a location described as “High Holborn by Chancery Lane”

two died at a location described as “High Holborn between Grays inn Road and Chancery Lane”

three died at a location described as “High Holborn”

six died having been injured in Holborn (no more precise location)

one died after being injured at 329 High Holborn (which is opposite number 12)

one had no location recorded for their injury but died at a hospital that seven other High Holborn victims died at (the Royal Free Hospital)

If we assume these were all killed in the same incident a total of 32 people died.

The dead at 12 High Holborn

Four people died here, the premises of Manzoni’s Italian restaurant.

Lucia and Afre Paglia, and Francois Verani

Lucia Domenica Peilu was born on 31^st July 1881 in Mercenasco, a village in the Piemonte region of north west Italy, about 15 miles from the edge of Turin.  She appears in the 1901 Census at 2 Porchester Road in Bayswater (now underneath Waitrose) where she lived and worked as a domestic servant in a restaurant.  The restaurant owner was Jeremino Paglia and his business partner Frenchman Francois Verani lived at the same address, with a waiter and a cook.

Lucia and Jeremino (more accurately Geslimirio Jeremias Paglia) were married in 1903 in London at the ages of 21 and 34.  Their daughter, Angela was born in 1904 (d.1989) and the 1911 Census found them living at 15 Greek Street where he was chief steward at a working men’s club (probably the St James’s and Soho Club).

By the 1911 Census Francois Verani was a waiter, living at 31 Great Ormond Street, with his wife Amy.  He was 42 at the time (suggesting he was born in 1869) and came from Nice in the south of France.  He was 15 years Amy’s senior; Amy was not in employment and they had no children.  Francois called himself Francesco, suggesting he might be trying to fit into an Italian restaurant!  While the Census return suggests he married Amy around 1905, the marriage records show they were legally wed in 1915.

Between 1911 and 1920 Geslimirio started a restaurant at 12 High Holborn (http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/32043/pages/9071/page.pdf). Afre Paglia was killed and Lucia Paglia was fatally injured and died later that day at the Royal Free Hospital.  (Geslimirio himself died in 1950 aged 82).

(My thanks to the owner of a family tree on ancestry.co.uk for information about the Paglia family:

http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/23891725/person/1493474312.)

William Bellhouse

The fourth person attributed to 12 High Holborn has a less obvious connection to the building.  CWGC gives his name as William Bellhouse, aged 67, of 14 Thompson Road, Dulwich.  However, checking the electoral roll for this address in 1938 shows Louise Jane, Eileen and Nellie Bellhouse living at the same address  Louise was his wife and Eileen & Nellie his youngest daughters (of at least nine children).

William Charles George Bellhouse was born on 4^th June 1867, and christened in St Pauls, Clerkenwell.  In the 1881 Census the family (parents plus seven children) was living in 24 Blomfield Street, Dalston where his father was a carpenter and joiner; William was referred to as Willie.  By 1891 the family, now parents plus four children, were at 17 Bradbury Street in West Hackney, where his father was a furniture dealer. 18-year old Willie was now working as an upholsterer.

In 1897 William married Louise Phillips (1872-4/12/41) in St Mary Magdalene, Peckham.  He was now a furniture dealer, presumably working with his father, and his wife was a widow (born Webber, daughter of a carrier) with two children from her first marriage.

By 1901 they were living in 13 Nutfield Road, Dulwich, and by 1911 they had five children of their own (this Census, seemingly completed by Louise, adds the information she had had 4 more children who did not survive).  With Nellie and Eileen born a few years after 1911, Louise gave birth to 13 children.

William was still a furniture dealer and the eldest son still at home was described as an assistant in a furniture shop.  The records show nothing else about William up until his death; the National Probate Calendar gives the value of his estate as £328.  Louise only survived him by just over a year and the Probate Calendar named Albert Bellhouse (auctioneer’s clerk) and Agnes Cousins, wife of Walter.

The dead at 329 High Holborn

William Gale

He was born William Hugh Gale in Chelsea in 1901, son of a milkman.  In the 1911 Census the family were at 134 Lynmouth Road, Walthamstow, and William had two younger siblings, born in Fulham and Battersea suggesting the family was moving quite often.  William’s aunt lived with them but is described as a domestic servant.

He married Marjorie Annie West (1898-1957, daughter of a policeman) on 20^th August 1921 at Christ Church, Fulham; at this time he worked as an electrician (his father was now described as a dairy manager).

They had one daughter, Joan (born 1924).  In 1940 they lived at 25 Epple Road, Fulham, by Parsons Green Station (they had lived there for at least 9 years).  The National Probate Calendar gives the value of William’s estate as £248.

NOTE: I will add more details on the other people over the next few posts. 

A note on photographs of the incident

This seems to have been the second incident involving a bus in High Holborn. On 9^th September 1940 a bus was partially wrecked outside number 300, and some websites confuse the two.   The bus in the earlier incident has the advert “Black and White” on the side.  Some pictures show it with the upper deck distorted and the roof missing.  Other photos show the upper deck having been completely removed but with the “Black and White” writing still visible.  It is also shown directly outside a wrecked building.

The bus outside 12 High Holborn retains its shell intact (including the rook on the upper deck) and appears to have stopped past the wrecked building (near the junction with Grays Inn Road).

A note on the numbering of properties in High Holborn

Property numbers start from the corner with Grays Inn Road on the north side and number towards the west; this number 1 is on the Grays Inn Road corner, number 2 is next to it, number 3 neighbours 2, and so on.  At the western end of High Holborn the property numbers switch to the south-side of the street and number back towards the east, ending at 333 which is opposite number 1.