The Old Palace School Bombing

This is the account of the Bombing of the Old Palace School in St Leonard’s Street, Bow, London, during WW2 and the sad loss of 32 Firemen and 2 Firewomen who were tragically killed during this raid. This is still today, the largest ever loss of life for the Fire Brigade, at one incident, in the history of the service.

Tragically for me, one of those who lost their life that night was my greataunt, Winifred Alexandra Peters (née Wootton).

In defence of London

To give some background to the night’s events, during the 1930s the Government started making plans to cope with aerial attacks in the event of war. As the nation’s capital, London was a natural prime target. Dockland warehouses packed with highly combustible oils, grain and timber were clearly a risk and the narrow maze of streets provided an easy path for the fire. It was obvious a large number of firefighters would be needed to prevent London becoming little more than a smoking ruin.

The answer was to expand the regular Fire Brigade by forming an Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS). By 1939 approximately 28,000 men and women had joined the AFS.

The London Fire Brigade and the 66 smaller brigades in the Greater London Region were organised into five districts. For each regular station area, an average of six sub-stations were set up, staffed by the AFS, with a regular sub-officer in charge. Garages, filling stations and schools, empty since the evacuation of children, were all