The Sandhurst Road School Disaster occurred at a school on Minard Road in Catford, south east London on Wednesday, 20 January, 1943, when a German fighter-bomber dropped a 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb on the school at 12.30 pm. The resulting explosion killed 32 children and six staff with 60 others injured, many buried for hours under the rubble. Six further children died in hospital.[1]
Contents |
The German attack formation consisted of 28 planes, with Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bombers escorted by Messerschmitt 109 fighters. The planes were to attack any targets of opportunity.[2] The German pilot responsible for the attack on the school was Hauptmann Heinz Schumann from Jagdgeschwader 2. He was flying a Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-4 carrying a single 500 kg SC500 bomb. Debate exists whether Schumann deliberately targeted the school, or simply attacked what looked like a large factory (the school was several stories high). Witness reports suggest first flew past the school and bombed it on a second run.[3] Another plane is alleged to have also strafed the playground and local streets.[2]
Due to inefficiencies of the warning system, the air raid siren had not sounded by the time the German planes arrived. Many children were having their lunch and the attack destroyed the area of the school where they were eating.[2]
During the same raid four barrage balloon sites were destroyed in Lewisham, a large gasholder in Sydenham was set alight, a Deptford power station suffered three direct hits, and the President’s House at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.[3]
Schumann was killed in action in August 1943.[4]
Of the 38 children and six teachers killed by the bombing, 31 children and one teacher were buried together at Hither Green Cemetery in a civilian war dead plot.[5] The mass grave has a rectangular stone surround that contains a raised tablet with inscription. The burial was conducted by the Bishop of Southwark Bertram Simpson, and over 7,000 mourners attended.[3]
At the present-day school there is a stained glass window commemorating the event and also a memorial garden.
Shortly after the raid, an inquiry in to the events surrounding the attack and the responses of the emergency services was held at Lewisham Town Hall. It was noted that local Civil Defence services arrived at the school quickly and special thanks were made to volunteers, the Heavy Rescue Squads, soldiers of the REME billeted at St Dunstans and Canadians forces from Bromley Wood. Some issues were raised about how the police were unable to control parents at the school digging for their children, but given the nature of the incident this was noted to have been virtually impossible to stop.[3]