On this day in 1941, Thomas William Jennings (1895-1941) was killed in a bomb attack on London in the Second World War.
Thomas was working at Liverpool Street Station when it was hit by a high explosive bomb on the evening of March 8, 1941.
He lost his life when it ‘fell between platforms 4 and 5’ at 9.30pm.
Thomas, aged 45, was among hundreds of civilians who were killed or wounded in a ‘full scale’ raid on London that evening.
A London Civil Defence regional report described it as the ‘worst air raid since January 1941’, with 129 people killed, 152 seriously injured and 310 slightly injured.
The worst casualties were at the Café de Paris, a nightclub and restaurant, where 34 people died and 80 taken to hospital after a 50kg bomb hit the building.
Five high explosive bombs fell on or near Buckingham Palace, with one demolishing the North Lodge.
Four people were killed and 36 injured when three bombs exploded in Church Street, Kensington and three were killed and 18 injured when seven bombs hit Hornsey.
Thomas was buried seven days after the bomb attack – at Chadwell Heath Cemetery in Dagenham.
Paul Roberts
NOTES
Thomas was the brother-in-law of Mary Hannah Wyburn Hicks (1882-1944) who – with two of her daughters – was killed in a ‘Doodlebug’ attack on London on July 17, 1944.
Mary was the daughter of milkman John Elston (1841-1917) and Sarah Ann Jones (1853-1917). John was the son of William Elston (1813-1885) and Loveday Roberts (1819-1909). Loveday was the daughter of William Roberts (1791-1875) and Frances Hodge (1796-1873). William was the son of John Roberts (1766-1834) and Elizabeth James (1767-1861). John was the son of William Roberts (1738-), my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
Born on May 21, 1895 in Bethnal Green, London, Thomas was the son of boot maker Thomas and Ethel Jennings. He married Janet Alice Elston (1893-1979) – Mary’s sister – on September 23, 1920 in Bethnal Green. In 1939, Thomas was a railway porter, living in Dagenham, Essex. At the time of his death, he was living at 43 Lynett Road, Dagenham.
Picture below
Firefighters at work during a bombing raid on London. Public Domain image, via Wikimedia Commons, by London Fire Brigade photographer (Home Front HU1129.jpg).
