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Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England, United Kingdom — Northwestern Europe (the British Isles)
 

Stairway to Heaven

Bethnal Green Memorial

 
 
Stairway to Heaven Memorial image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, July 27, 2018
1. Stairway to Heaven Memorial
Inscription.
Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster
On 3 March the air raid warning sounded at 8.17 pm. People made their way in the pitch dark of the blackout to file in an orderly manner down the steps of the single entrance to the unfinished Bethnal Green underground station next to this memorial. It had been in regular use since 1940 as a deep air raid shelter.

Over the next 10 minutes local pubs and cinemas emptied so that some 2000 people were already in the shelter by 8.27 pm when the searchlights went on. Those still waiting to enter were alarmed by the deafening sound of a new anti-aircraft rocket battery opening fire for the first time nearby. They assumed it to be enemy bombs falling. At that time three buses set down their passengers at the unsupervised shelter entrance. The crowd hurried down the poorly-lit 10 foot wide first flight of 19 concrete steps which had no central handrail. On this wet, slippery stairway a woman with a child fell on the 3rd step from the bottom and others tumbled over her. The crowd above continued pressing forward unable to see the horror of what was happening below. Within seconds the whole staircase was a solid, tangled mass of 300 people trapped five or six deep.

Despite heroic efforts, rescuers working above and below found it difficult to release them before they suffocated
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in the crush. It was 11.40 pm before the last of the total 173 dead was pulled out — 84 women, 62 children and 27 men. Sixty-two people were hospitalised and at least 30 more walked away wounded. Many more suffered life-long trauma. This was the worst civilian disaster of the Second World War.
 
Erected 2017.
 
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: DisastersWar, World II. A significant historical date for this entry is March 3, 1943.
 
Location. 51° 31.634′ N, 0° 3.306′ W. Marker is in Tower Hamlets, England, in Greater London. Memorial is at the intersection of Cambridge Heath Road and Roman Road, on the left when traveling south on Cambridge Heath Road. Located next to Bethnal Green Underground Station. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Tower Hamlets, England E2 9QX, United Kingdom. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Bethnal Green Tube Shelter Disaster (here, next to this marker); Bethnal Green Fire Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Daniel Mendoza (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Louis Jacobs, RN, (approx. 1.1 kilometers away); Captain Lionel Lee, MC, Cr. de Guerre (approx. 1.3 kilometers away); Fl. Sgt. Jack Nissenthall, RAF (approx. 1.4 kilometers
Stairway to Heaven Memorial Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, July 27, 2018
2. Stairway to Heaven Memorial Marker
away); Whitechapel (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); Hoxton Jewish Cemetery (approx. 1.7 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tower Hamlets.
 
Also see . . .  Bethnal Green WW2 Tube disaster memorial unveiled. BBC News entry. (Submitted on August 26, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.) 
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on January 27, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 14, 2018, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 222 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on August 14, 2018, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.

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Mar. 29, 2024