London SE1 community website

Looking for memories of the Blitz in SE1

London SE1 website team

Researchers working on a drama-documentary are appealing for local residents to come forward with memories of the air raid on the area on 29 December 1940.

The two-hour Channel 4 drama-documentary will focus on one of the most notorious and destructive raids of the Blitz on 29 December 1940. It was the night St Paul's almost went up in flames with the very heart of the City being firebombed. The Thames was at its lowest tide of the year, hindering the firefighting effort. Bankside was heavily hit with many buildings along the river from London Bridge to Tower Bridge going up in flames.

At 7.30pm on that night the Keyworth Street shelter off Borough Road suffered a direct hit by an HE bomb. 12 people were killed and between 20 and 30 people were rescued from the wreckage. Rescue workers struggled through the night as the raid went on around them.
Eight-year-old Frederick Feldon was rescued alive at 5.32am but his mother, father and sister all died.

The programme-makers would really like to hear from anyone who was involved in the tragedy – whether they were inside the shelter, treated the wounded or helped rescue those trapped.

The programme will try to capture what it was like to be on the streets of London as the raid took place.

If you were in the area at the time or know of someone who was, contact Alex Kiehl at Darlow Smithson Productions on 020 7482 7027 or email [email protected]
">[email protected].

The programme is due to be completed in Autumn 2005.

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