On Sunday 24th November we will be holding a Memorial
Service at Manor Park cemetery for those who have relatives buried there. We
understand that 88 of our victims are buried in the cemetery and we plan to
honour them by reading out their names and holding prayers in their honour. The
service starts at 11.30am.
Actress Millie Bobby Brown has just published her book
‘Nineteen Steps’ which is a story inspired by her late grandmother who told her
all about her time during WW2 in the East End and the loss of her best friend’s
family in the Bethnal Green tube disaster. She is now in the process of
producing a Netflix series about the disaster in which she is staring.
Babs Clarke & the Channel 5 ‘Jay Blades East End’ Programme
Millie Bobby Brown's Nineteen Steps
Babs Clarke and Jay Blades
Here is an opportunity for you to see this lovely photo of
Babs with Jay Blades taken when they filmed the excellent Channel 5 programme
‘Jay Blades East End’ The Programme was in three parts and both Kate Thompson
and Babs Clarke took part in the filming.
Survivors and Relatives Remember The Worst Civilian Disaster
of WW2.
Over 300 people packed St. John on Bethnal Green Church on Sunday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster – the worst civilian disaster of WW2 not caused by enemy bombs. The service was led by the Bishop of Stepney, The Rt Rev Dr Joanne Grenfell who gave a comforting address, along with Fr Brian Ralph (St. Barnabas Church) and Revd Christopher Morgan (Chaplain to the Bishop of Stepney).
In the front pew at the church was HRH, The Duke of
Gloucester; the Deputy Lieutenant of Tower Hamlets Leslie Morgan as well as
local MP Rushanara Ali and several representatives from Tower Hamlets Council,
including the deputy mayor Maium Talukdar.
During the service the names of all 173 victims were read out by members
of the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust committee, many of whom had family
that died in the disaster. At the same time 173 candles were lit on the altar.
HRH delivered a very moving Bible reading. Committee Chairman Joyce Hampton
read out her own poignant poem ‘Looking Down On You and Me’.
After the Service the clergy, followed by several Pearly
Kings & Queens, paraded across the road led by the standard bearer of the
Civil Defence Association, Nick Ridsdale. At least 7 survivors, plus lots of
relatives of the victims and rescuers, accompanied them and our Patrons Tommy
Walsh and Harry Harris, to lay flowers and wreaths on the memorial in Bethnal
Green Gardens. An Act of Remembrance
and a minute’s silence followed and then a group photo was taken. The local
Firefighters formed a Guard of Honour for the event.
After this everyone returned to the church for some welcome
hot drinks kindly supplied by Starbucks manager Ben Tesema and his 2 daughters.
Beigels, supplied from The Beigel Bake shop in Brick Lane and lots of cakes
were provided by the charity committee and supporters. It gave everyone the
chance to mingle, catch up with long lost friends and relatives and The Duke of
Gloucester was able to speak to some of our survivors about their experience.
A souvenir brochure had been produced with memories of lots
of those involved in the disaster. Special pre-printed pages were also supplied
for people to add their memories of their loved ones involved in the tragedy.
These will all be collated, along with those that have been collected over the
last 16 years of the project, and passed on to Tower Hamlets archives at
Bancroft Road library for posterity.
This was the last Memorial Service to be held at St. John’s
Church. In future there will be an Act of Remembrance to honour the lives lost
in the worst civilian disaster of WW2 at the Memorial itself on the actual
anniversary of the disaster – 3rd March – each year at 11.30am. Everyone will
be welcome to join in from next year.
The 80th anniversary Memorial Service will take place on 5th
March at 2pm at St. John on Bethnal Green Church - next to Bethnal Green tube
station entrance where the disaster occurred. The Service will be led by The
Bishop of Stepney and will be attended by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, various
VIPs, and, importantly, many survivors and families of those that were affected
by the disaster in one way or another. The church capacity is 300 people, as
the upstairs will not be available, so if numbers exceed that we will have to
refuse entry and ask people to wait at the memorial across the road instead.
During the Service the names of all 173 victims will be read
out and simultaneously 173 candles will be lit on the altar. After the Service
we will parade across the road with lots of Pearly Kings & Queens to lay
wreaths and flowers on our memorial, but please make sure that there are no
metal, wire or sharp parts to these floral tributes if you plan to bring any
along as they can damage the surface of the Memorial.
There will be a short Act of remembrance at the memorial
followed by a minute’s silence and then everyone is welcome to return to the
church where refreshments will be available and a chance to catch up with
everyone. There will be special memory pages for people to submit their
memories of their loved ones connected to the disaster. These will be stored at
Tower Hamlets Local History Archive to be kept for posterity. There will also be books and memorial
painting notelets for sale too. We have been collecting short memories from
various people to be included in a limited-edition souvenir brochure that will
be on sale for £5 each, cash sales only, on the day.
We intend taking photos at the side of the Memorial of 173
relatives, survivors and rescuers for posterity, to reflect the tragic loss of
life on the 3rd March 1943. In addition, there will be professional
photographers taking a variety of photos to cover the whole of the 80th
Memorial Service as well as the dedication and remembrance at the memorial
itself.
Some of you may have seen the very moving and powerful play
‘A Long Night in London’ written by Bernie Byrnes back in 2011. It has been
updated and will now be performed in several locations this year. It will be
performed twice at Oxford House, just off Bethnal Green Road, on the actual
anniversary date 3rd March. The matinee will be at 2.30pm and then at 7.30pm.
Tickets can be purchased at: www.giddytheatre.co.uk. It is also being performed
23-25th February in Bracknell, Berkshire, and in Brighton in May. Please see their website for more details.
Memorial Service of 2022- 79 Years after the tragedy
The Memorial Service to mark the 79th anniversary of the
Bethnal Green tube disaster took place on Sunday 6th March 2022 at 2pm at St.
John on Bethnal Green Church, next to Bethnal Green underground station. After
the service wreaths and flowers were laid on the Memorial across the road. We
asked attendees to please make sure there were no sharp or metal parts in their
floral tributes as this causes rust marks and can damage the Memorial. We also
asked for volunteers to provide some cakes for refreshments after the service
and we were delighted with the excellent response. For full report, please see
front page.
Secret of The singer girls Book release by Kate Thompson
Kate Thompson's first published book tells the story of
wartime Bethnal Green through the eyes of local girls. Including the Bethnal
Green Tube Disaster. For Sale via Amazon!
The Passing of Margaret McKay
We are so sorry to announce the death of Margaret McKay in
November 2021. Margaret was the youngest survivor and had been very brave in
relating her sad story in various interviews to help bring our project to a
wider audience. She was such a lovely lady and attended our Memorial Services
and, of course, the official unveiling of the memorial in 2017. Margaret's
mother Ellen Ridgway, was holding baby Margaret in her arms when she was trapped
in the crush. A policeman asked her to hand the baby to him, and he passed it to
another young girl who took good care of Margaret, but when the policeman
returned, Ellen was dead. Margaret grew up not knowing the love of a mother and
did not know that the woman married to her father was not her real mother until
she was in her late teens. They never got on, and Margaret has never been able
to trace any relatives of her mother. It was very difficult for Margaret to
live with. We will miss her dreadfully and send our deepest sympathies to her
family and friends. Donations in memory of Margaret and in lieu of flowers have
already reached £525. If you would like to add to this, please make a donation
using the orange 'donate button' on the front page.
Memorial Service Sunday 7th March 2021
The names of the victims were read out by members of the
Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust committee, mostly being able to read their
own family names. At the same time Fr. Green lit 173 candles on the altar.
Photos of some of the victims were shown at the end of the Service and our
committee Chair, Joyce Hampton, read out her own poem, 'Looking Down on You and
Me'.
We normally collect donations for the maintenance of the
Memorial at the Service. If you would like to make a donation, please click on
the ‘donate’ button on the opening page. Thank you.