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Trying to find a newspaper article on a fatal bombing in Sidcup

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  • Trying to find a newspaper article on a fatal bombing in Sidcup

    Hi

    I have FMP and, with it, the British Newspapers 1710-1953 record set.

    My 2nd great aunt, Elizabeth Eliza Deamer, aged 39, and her 2 children - Eric, 13, and daughter Iris Daphne, aged 9 - were killed on 8 Feb 1945 at their home in 6 Berwick Crescent, Days Lane, Sidcup.

    They are listed on WW2 Civilian deaths and I have their burial cards but wondered if there was an article about the bomb. But I can't find anything at all. Were home bombings not reported (possible, I guess)? Or am I just not looking properly?

    Thanks
    :D Charney Jo

  • #2
    No, I've had a look and it is not mentioned. Even tried looking under just Sidcup or just the address. I presume you are certain of the date and year? (edit, yes, sorry just checked on CWGC site) I narrowed it down to 1945.
    Maybe it was suppressed War News???
    Anne
    Last edited by Anne in Carlisle; 01-02-16, 10:27.

    Comment


    • #3
      I've looked in The Times, Daily Mirror and Daily Express - nothing. The BNA site is still quite limited for that period and that area of Kent.
      Phil
      historyhouse.co.uk
      Essex - family and local history.

      Comment


      • #4
        According to this database (search for the name Deamer) they were victims of a V2 attack. I believe that at the time these were definitely subject to press censorship.
        Here is the list of Civilian deaths attributed to V2 Attacks we have managed to compile. So, we would welcome any information regarding any names that we have missed. All of the names appear on the Civilian War Dead Register  



        Edit
        On this map it is described as: Chislehurst “Incident Number 702 17:44 – Thursday 8 February 1945”
        Here we have plotted all reported V2 Strikes in February 1945 to the co-ordinates quoted in The Ministry of Home Security document AIR 20/4126 titled “Big Ben”: Enemy long range rockets: list of incidents, September 1944 to March 1945. We would welcome any information that you may have on any of the explosions but please [...]
        Last edited by keldon; 01-02-16, 10:53.
        Phil
        historyhouse.co.uk
        Essex - family and local history.

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks all. I guessed that was the reason, but did doubt my searching abilities as I am rubbish at finding anything related to any of my family. Still, I am not sure that I have ever been in the paper so I have no reason to think my family were any different!
          :D Charney Jo

          Comment


          • #6
            In this table the data contained in columns marked – No, Date, Time, Place, Map Reference and Crater  -is our transcription of the data in AIR 20/4126 at The National Archives. The data in – Place Other, Killed and Injured – we have collected from various publications, lists and information from contributors. Where a “§” [...]

            On this page click forward to incident 702 and you'll see 7 killed 110 injured.
            Phil
            historyhouse.co.uk
            Essex - family and local history.

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks Phil. So, would they have probably been in their air raid shelter or were they the silent bombs? Desperately trying to think back to school history lessons...
              :D Charney Jo

              Comment


              • #8
                It sounds by your first posting they were killed at their home address. Most people W War 2 bombings were killed at home rather than air raid shelters. Where casualties were in Air Raid Shelters/Tube Stations or any other major venues such as theatres or cinemas, they did often get into the newspapers, though would be heavily censored and the numbers killed were played down during the war years. One of the worst censorships I remember was when Plymouth was totally destroyed in 1941, the news simply said that "a West Country town had been attacked". No other details were given!!

                You will find the clue will be in the W War 2 Civilian casualty list If the address is given then that is where they were killed. If killed elsewhere it will say so. You should also be able to track the address to find out if it was on a bomb map of the area.

                Janet
                Last edited by Janet; 01-02-16, 13:02.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks Janet. I meant more in an Anderson shelter. I am a bit patchy on my WW2 history. Did anybody die while sheltering in those? Off to Google. Thanks for the reply!
                  :D Charney Jo

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Oh, from www.andersonshelters.org.uk:

                    "a November 1940 survey discovered that only 27% of Londoners used Anderson shelters, 9% slept in public shelters and 4% used underground railway stations. The rest of those interviewed were either on duty at night or slept in their own homes. The latter group felt that, if they were going to die, they would rather die in comfort"
                    :D Charney Jo

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Charney Jo View Post
                      Oh, from www.andersonshelters.org.uk:

                      "a November 1940 survey discovered that only 27% of Londoners used Anderson shelters, 9% slept in public shelters and 4% used underground railway stations. The rest of those interviewed were either on duty at night or slept in their own homes. The latter group felt that, if they were going to die, they would rather die in comfort"
                      That is precisely why we never went to air raid shelters but sheltered under the stairs/beds and why I now hate being in a lift, so claustrophobic!!! We never used an Anderson Shelter, it was safer in the house!!! Even the Morrison Shelter was no better than under stairs or under the bed so most people did not bother with them!


                      Janet
                      Last edited by Janet; 01-02-16, 13:21.

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                      • #12
                        Good to know, thanks Janet. It really was just luck whether you were in the wrong place at the wrong time!
                        :D Charney Jo

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Charney Jo View Post
                          Good to know, thanks Janet. It really was just luck whether you were in the wrong place at the wrong time!
                          Oh yes, I have one just like yours, except that only the two children were killed, not the parents but the children were the same ages as my rwo brothers and went to the same school, and were known to my mother. Many years later I discovered that we had lived in the same house in 1938, but had moved by 1939 so that could have been me, as my brothers had already been evacuated! I only discovered that when I found the information on the Civilian Dead War list.

                          Janet
                          Last edited by Janet; 01-02-16, 14:26.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Scary!
                            :D Charney Jo

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                            • #15
                              I thought the sirens were sounded (and shelters used) when bombing was expected.
                              Weren't the V2s rockets (propelled independently) rather than bombs (transported in aeroplanes) and especially terrifying because there was almost no warning? I think the V1s buzzed or whistled (doodle bugs) whilst the V2s were quieter and when the noise of the engine cut out, it was at the end of its journey and a hit was imminent.

                              Jay
                              Janet in Yorkshire



                              Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                V2's were rockets which travelled at supersonic speed and that very fact meant that no warning was possible. Often launched from Holland, they went straight up and came down literally a few minutes later in this country. Too fast to do anything if, by chance, they had been detected and much faster that the speed of sound, so a silent arrival.
                                When they were first used against this country the government referred initially to gas explosions rather than alarm the public by revealing the truth about them, of which they were fully aware.
                                Nothing at all like V1's, which were winged pilotless planes able to be intercepted by fighter aircraft because of their comparable speed with them.

                                merleyone

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Janet in Yorkshire View Post
                                  I thought the sirens were sounded (and shelters used) when bombing was expected.

                                  Jay
                                  The Sirens always went for the conventional air attacks and the All Clear was always sounded when the attack was over, but many many people did not bother to go to the Public Shelters and the Anderson Shelters in the gardens were mostly knee deep in water in the winter and smelly so many people bypassed those as well.

                                  The V2 Rockets were different and only affected the London area very late in the war and Merleyone has explained that side. They were much more deadly, so many people may well not have had time to get to a shelter, even if they had wanted to, but you will find that after the phoney war, people realised they were in this for the long haul and the Anderson Shelter soon lost its appeal! I know I hated it!The Public shelters were not much better, which was why many Londoners went underground or stayed at home !

                                  Janet
                                  Last edited by Janet; 01-02-16, 16:57.

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    If you back to this page and search> 702 (the incident number), you will see the fatalities lived at nos. 6 , 8 and 12 Berwick Crescent. This must have been the spot where the V2 landed without any warning. Those from no 10 were either out or only injured .
                                    Here is the list of Civilian deaths attributed to V2 Attacks we have managed to compile. So, we would welcome any information regarding any names that we have missed. All of the names appear on the Civilian War Dead Register  
                                    Phil
                                    historyhouse.co.uk
                                    Essex - family and local history.

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      Thanks all. I thought I remembered that the V1's made the noise and he second just cut out. Must have been terrifying!

                                      A lucky escape for those at no. 10!
                                      :D Charney Jo

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                                      • #20
                                        It was the V1's which had the engine cut out and then fell. V2's arrived at more than 3000 mph with the rocket engine fully functioning (virtually twice the speed of Concorde and four times the speed of sound), but because it was travelling at such a speed it simply could not be heard, nor seen at that speed (50 miles per minute). Much more terrifying with absolutely no warning at all and as the one that struck Berwick Crescent created a 27 ft diameter crater it is likely to have struck vertically.
                                        The German scientist behind the V2, or A4 as it was known to the Germans, was Werner von Braun who was taken to the US by the American Army immediately following the war where he continued with 'his work' and became the architect of the US Space programme in due course. No War Crime Trial for him!

                                        merleyone

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