Bethnal Green Station Memorial

Did you know that Sunday marked the 65th anniversary of one of the largest UK civilian casualty incident of WWII at Bethnal Green tube station? No? Perhaps you are wondering what incident I am speaking of? Don't worry, until 5 minutes ago, I wasn't aware this terrible tragedy had even taken place either. Sadly, we are not alone in our collective ignorance as the tragic events of 3rd March 1943 were covered up at first and have largely gone unnoticed thus far.


"On 3 March 1943 a crowd of people entered Bethnal Green tube station which was used at the time as an air-raid shelter. After an anti-aircraft battery a few hundred yards away in Victoria Park launched a salvo of a new type of anti-aircraft rockets the crowd surged forward. Someone tripped on the stairs causing many others to fall. 300 people were crushed into the stairwell within a few seconds, 173 of them died and over 90 were injured. The worst civilian disaster of the 2nd World War."

In view of this 65th anniversary, survivors and residents of Bethnal Green are hoping to raise funds for a more fitting memorial than the small plaque which was rather tardily erected decades later at the station entrance. The proposed memorial called Stairway To Heaven was designed by two local architects and users of Bethnal Green tube station, Harry Paticas and Jens Borstelmann.

Read the full story here
Thanks to Diamond Geezer