Bank bodies
 

This is an email I received the other day - seems a bit dubious to me. Any
ideas?


"Did you know that Bank station today is actually only part of Bank station?
Part of it was demolished by German bombs during the blitz in the 1940's
when trains were in the station. They closed it off and sealed it up without
taking the bodies out as it was too dangerous to go in after them. A distant
relative of mine is believed to be buried there. She didn't return home from
work that night and was never seen again. She always caught the train at
Bank station. You may be able to find out more from London Underground."

Bank bodies
 

"webmaster" wrote in message
. uk...
This is an email I received the other day - seems a bit dubious to me. Any
ideas?


"Did you know that Bank station today is actually only part of Bank
station?
Part of it was demolished by German bombs during the blitz in the 1940's
when trains were in the station. They closed it off and sealed it up
without
taking the bodies out as it was too dangerous to go in after them. A
distant
relative of mine is believed to be buried there. She didn't return home
from
work that night and was never seen again. She always caught the train at
Bank station. You may be able to find out more from London Underground."

A bomb hit Bank road junction and smashed through the Central Line ticket
hall, which is underneath. The bomb proceeded to bounce down the esclator
shaft and ISTR exploded at the bottom escalator landing killing several
people.

Bank bodies
 

Check out the following sites for more info:

http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...ra/lu/tuaw.htm

http://www.britishheritage.com/warus.htm

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...tube%20station

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/blitz_05.shtml

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/nettsch/time/wlife.html

http://www.battleofbritain.net/Blitz1940/0012.html

http://london.allinfo-about.com/features/timeline.html

http://www.worldwar2exraf.co.uk/Onli.../Theblitz.html

Google is your friend!


"webmaster" wrote in message
. uk...
This is an email I received the other day - seems a bit dubious to me. Any
ideas?


"Did you know that Bank station today is actually only part of Bank
station?
Part of it was demolished by German bombs during the blitz in the 1940's
when trains were in the station. They closed it off and sealed it up
without
taking the bodies out as it was too dangerous to go in after them. A
distant
relative of mine is believed to be buried there. She didn't return home
from
work that night and was never seen again. She always caught the train at
Bank station. You may be able to find out more from London Underground."

Bank bodies
 

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 23:28:37 +0100, "Robin Mayes"
wrote:


"webmaster" wrote in message
.uk...
This is an email I received the other day - seems a bit dubious to me. Any
ideas?


"Did you know that Bank station today is actually only part of Bank
station?
Part of it was demolished by German bombs during the blitz in the 1940's
when trains were in the station. They closed it off and sealed it up
without
taking the bodies out as it was too dangerous to go in after them. A
distant
relative of mine is believed to be buried there. She didn't return home
from
work that night and was never seen again. She always caught the train at
Bank station. You may be able to find out more from London Underground."

A bomb hit Bank road junction and smashed through the Central Line ticket
hall, which is underneath. The bomb proceeded to bounce down the esclator
shaft and ISTR exploded at the bottom escalator landing killing several
people.

A common misconception. The report of the official enquiry* states:

"A high explosive bomb** fell at 19.59 hours on 11th January, 1941,
approximately in the centre of the road junction at the Bank of
England... The road junction... consists of a shell above a large
hollow elliptical space some 200 ft. in longer diameter. The bomb
penetrated the road surface and exploded immediately beneath***,
disrupting the road upwards and causing it to collapse into the
elliptical gallery. At the same time, the blast travelled through the
various underground passages, and in particular forced its way with
extreme violence down the escalator into the two tubes of the Central
London line, carrying with it a number of persons who were on the
escalator and at the foot of it at the time, and killing and injuring
others sheltering on the platform opposite the entrances. A train was
standing at the platform on one of the lines, and a few moments after
the explosion another train entered the other platform. At the foot of
the escalator are two heavy steel doors for prevention of floods,
blocking the access to the platforms: both these doors were open. Had
they been shut, we are told that there might have been danger of
collapse of the wall of the tubes."

Total fatalities were 46 in situ, 10 subsequently died in hospital.
Gruesomely, some of those were blown from the escalators, across the
platform and onto the tracks, before being run over by the incoming
train, although it seems unlikely they were alive by that stage, let
alone conscious. In the same raid, two bombs landed within 30 yards of
each other next to Liverpool Street station, killing 43 people who
were either on two buses destroyed by the blasts or standing at bus
queues. Ten people were also killed in Cheapside.

* National Arhives, Kew document HO 186/639
** The initial Civil Defence report suggests it was, "probably caused
by two 500 lb bombs falling closely together, or possibly a single
bomb of large calibre."
*** It is generally considered that the actual explosion was in the
escalator machine room.
--
Nick Cooper

[Carefully remove the detonators from my e-mail address to reply!]

The London Underground at War:
http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...ra/lu/tuaw.htm
625-Online - classic British television:
http://www.625.org.uk
'Things to Come' - An Incomplete Classic:
http://www.thingstocome.org.uk

Bank bodies
 

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 20:39:36 GMT, "webmaster"
wrote:

This is an email I received the other day - seems a bit dubious to me. Any
ideas?

"Did you know that Bank station today is actually only part of Bank station?
Part of it was demolished by German bombs during the blitz in the 1940's
when trains were in the station.

No, it was largely people sheltering on the platforms, although
unfortunately for those blown onto the tracks, a train did pull in
seconds later....

They closed it off and sealed it up without taking the bodies out as it was
too dangerous to go in after them.

This would have been very difficult, considering that the fatalities
were on the current Central Line platforms, the escalators leading
down to them, and the ticket hall that is still in use today.

A distant relative of mine is believed to be buried there. She didn't return
home from work that night and was never seen again.

She must have been working late, as it happened at 19.59.

She always caught the train at Bank station. You may be able to find out
more from London Underground."

Robin has already referenced my page on 'The Underground at War' but
it's worth mentioning that I have now done a "Casualty & Fatality
Analysis" on the Bank bombing - amongst others - which seeks to
reconcile the various published casualty figures:

http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...wcafa.htm#bank

This includes the names of the 56 dead (both killed in situ or died in
hospital later).
--
Nick Cooper

[Carefully remove the detonators from my e-mail address to reply!]

The London Underground at War:
http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...ra/lu/tuaw.htm
625-Online - classic British television:
http://www.625.org.uk
'Things to Come' - An Incomplete Classic:
http://www.thingstocome.org.uk

Bank bodies
 

"Nick Cooper" wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 23:28:37 +0100, "Robin Mayes"
wrote:

Thanks for digging out the report, it's been a while since I last read it.

Bank bodies
 

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:49:55 +0100, "Robin Mayes"
wrote:


"Nick Cooper" wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 23:28:37 +0100, "Robin Mayes"
wrote:

Thanks for digging out the report, it's been a while since I last read it.

One of these my web-site is going to get a major overhaul, as I've
been working over a lot of primary documents at the National Archives,
many of which contradict a lot of the stories that have built up over
the years about what happened at which station. On top of that, I've
managed to dig up quite a few incidents that don't get mentioned in
the usual round-ups of bombing damage.
--
Nick Cooper

[Carefully remove the detonators from my e-mail address to reply!]

The London Underground at War:
http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...ra/lu/tuaw.htm
625-Online - classic British television:
http://www.625.org.uk
'Things to Come' - An Incomplete Classic:
http://www.thingstocome.org.uk