Earlsthorpe Road WWII bomb 1943

[ClaireyM]

Browsing on another website, I came across some info about some people being killed by a bomb in Earlsthorpe Rd on 07/10/1943, but I can't find any more about it. Can anyone else let me know some more? Or if anyone has some pics, could you please post them?
Thanks!

[simon]

Hi ClaireyM,
I remember reading about a bomb on Earlsthorpe Raod in Lewis Blake's Red Alert book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/1939-1945-Deptf ... B0018TSJL4 its sadly out of print but there is a copy in Sydenham Library, hurry before they close it!). The story was that a mother ran out of the house with her infant son in her arms just before the bomb hit; the boy survived but the mother didn't.
I think the house was Number 17 and it and the ones one either side were completly rebuilt as the originals but the shops on Sydenham Road that were also destroyed were not; hence the modern block that is now home to Barlcays, Ladbrokes and Musits.
Like you, I would like to know more so please let me know what you find out.

[multisync]

I'm sure Steve Grindlay would know but he hasn't posted for a long time

[Thomas]

You might be interested in this earlier thread about a series of maps showing bomb damage, produced in 1945:

http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic. ... map#p22619

[Thomas]

Oh and the Joan Alcock book about the history of Sydenham and Forest Hill says that four people were killed in the explosion. Not aware of any other information about this.

[marymck]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission produced a set of volumes "1939-1945: Civilian War Dead". This is searchable online, but I believe only by surname, not by location.

The books themselves are displayed at Westminster Abbey and a page turned each day. Those books aren't searchable, but I believe the Imperial War Museum has a copy that may be searched.

Time permitting, it's something I'll try to do when the dust from Christmas settles (but no promises!)

[ClaireyM]

I found this:

Name DUBBER, ALBERT SYDNEY
Initials:A S
Nationality:United Kingdom
Rank:Civilian
Regiment/Service:Civilian War Dead
Age:60
Date of Death:07/10/1943
Additional information of 19 Earlsthorpe Road. Husband of F. E. Dubber. Died at 18 Earlsthorpe Road, Sydenham.
Casualty Type:Civilian War Dead
Reporting Authority:LEWISHAM, METROPOLITAN BOROUGH

on this website - http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/united-kin ... itz-7.html
So it was number 18 that was hit by the sounds of it, which is on the shops side of Earlsthorpe Road. I actually grew up in number 19!

[bern]

In response to the queries regarding the bombing of Earlsthorpe Road, my husband's grandmother's house was one of those destroyed. My husband was a child of 3 at the time and his Aunt Peggy threw herself across him as the house collapsed, thus saving his life. Unfortunately she was killed. The direct hit was the house next door to them and it was a Junkers 88 jettisoning his bomb load which hit them.

One presumes he was caught in search lights and had to lighten his load to escape: it was rumoured that he was shot down over Framley Heath on his way home.

He was buried beneath her body for about 5 hours before they were dug out at about 1.00 am.

If anyone is interested in more information he can probably give it. He also has a copy of Red Alert.

[Jackdaw]

I was living (age 2!) with my mother just across and further up the road when the bomb fell. My mother told me my head was cut by broken glass from the blast. We evacuated temporarily but returned there in late 1945. I remember the bomb site well and it did indeed stretch from Earlsthorpe Road to where the shops had been on Sydenham Road. The Electoral Registers for 1945 & 1946 show no-one living at numbers 10-22 Earlsthorpe Road meaning that 7 houses were either destroyed or uninhabitable. This ties in with my, admittedly very early (age 5 or 6), memories of a large open space there. I remember workmen clearing the site for re-building and by 1949 the Electoral Register shows people living at all except Nos. 20 and 22 Earlsthorpe. By 1952 the Electoral Register shows all the houses occupied and I became friendly with son of the people living at No. 20. Looking at the road on Google now it all looks remarkably familiar: even the street lamps (originally lit by gas!) are the same.