Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Ceremony to mark the Tottenham Air Raid Shelter tragedy in 1940
A ceremony to mark the deaths of up to 90 Tottenham civilians who died when their air raid shelter took a direct hit from German bombers during the Blitz in 1940, will take place on Sunday.
September the 19th marks the 70th anniversary of Tottenham's worst wartime tragedy when a heavy calibre bomb is thought to have entered the shelter's emergency escape hatch causing devastation and hampering the rescue operation that followed.
It's feared that up to 90 people of all ages from the local area were killed when the underground Downhills Shelter was blasted at night by the plane which was seeking military targets nearby.
The shelter was in what is now the Lordship Woodland in Lordship Recreation Ground. After the bombs struck residents and emergency services conducted a rescue operation, and a morgue was established in the Tottenham Hotspurs football ground nearby.
The scale of the incident was 'hushed up' at the time, to protect public morale, and then all but forgotten until members of the Friends of Lordship Rec began researching it and contacting survivors.
The Commemoration Ceremony will take place at the site itself.
Survivors of the bombing and relatives of the victims will attend the ceremony as well as modern representatives of the organisations, statutory and civic bodies, involved in the rescue operation.
Local historian Ray Swain will provide a display and explain the ongoing research effort to discover the names of all those who died and to track down families and survivors.
So far 40 civilians are confirmed as having died in the tragedy but it's thought that in reality up to 90 local people were killed.
The Friends of Lordship Rec are asking for public donations towards a memorial feature commemorating this event to be installed during the planned regeneration works for Lordship Rec.
Dave Morris, chair of the Friends of Lordship Rec, says:
"We hope that any current family members of those who survived or died get to hear of this work. If anyone knows any information about the whereabouts of such survivors or relatives, or would like to make a donation to a memorial, we would love to hear from them."
For information see Downhills Shelter Tragedy and this page for Survivors stories
September the 19th marks the 70th anniversary of Tottenham's worst wartime tragedy when a heavy calibre bomb is thought to have entered the shelter's emergency escape hatch causing devastation and hampering the rescue operation that followed.
It's feared that up to 90 people of all ages from the local area were killed when the underground Downhills Shelter was blasted at night by the plane which was seeking military targets nearby.
The shelter was in what is now the Lordship Woodland in Lordship Recreation Ground. After the bombs struck residents and emergency services conducted a rescue operation, and a morgue was established in the Tottenham Hotspurs football ground nearby.
The scale of the incident was 'hushed up' at the time, to protect public morale, and then all but forgotten until members of the Friends of Lordship Rec began researching it and contacting survivors.
The Commemoration Ceremony will take place at the site itself.
Survivors of the bombing and relatives of the victims will attend the ceremony as well as modern representatives of the organisations, statutory and civic bodies, involved in the rescue operation.
Local historian Ray Swain will provide a display and explain the ongoing research effort to discover the names of all those who died and to track down families and survivors.
So far 40 civilians are confirmed as having died in the tragedy but it's thought that in reality up to 90 local people were killed.
The Friends of Lordship Rec are asking for public donations towards a memorial feature commemorating this event to be installed during the planned regeneration works for Lordship Rec.
Dave Morris, chair of the Friends of Lordship Rec, says:
"We hope that any current family members of those who survived or died get to hear of this work. If anyone knows any information about the whereabouts of such survivors or relatives, or would like to make a donation to a memorial, we would love to hear from them."
For information see Downhills Shelter Tragedy and this page for Survivors stories
Tags for Forum Posts: blitz, history, tottenham air raid
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