Dalston Library, 4th January 1945
-WD594 - Dalston Public Library, Forest Road. Here you can see the complete destruction of the Library and surrounding houses. The Library received a direct hit from a V2 rocket on the 4th January 1945 [1]
Extract transcribed 10th November 2013 [2]
HORROR- THE DAY A V2 ROCKET FELL ON THE LIBRARY
By MINNIE RAPSON. Ex Beechwood Road
“in January 1945 I was nursing my by-now four–month-old son by the fire when I suddenly felt a terrible crunch as if the walls had caved in.
The fireplace poured with soot all over us and for a time I could not get myself together. Then baby screamed and holding him tight I staggered dazed to the door. Passersby were as dazed as I was, and some of them were badly cut.
Help came from some American soldiers, who soon got busy helping us all. Then we realised what had happened. A V2 rocket had demolished our library in Forest Road, burying many people mostly children, who at four o’clock came out of Holy Trinity School and went to change their books.
There was a paper shop on the corner of Woodland Street, owned by Mr and Mrs Feather. Mrs Feather was killed – it was heartbreaking. Many of the children we knew so well were also killed.
All that sad night we could hear the rescue work going on and the ambulances coming and going. Holy Trinity Church became a mortuary.
To add to the misery it was snowing and bitterly cold. We laid down on our bed that cruel night: we had no roof and no windows but when we thought of the tragedy around the corner we knew how fortunate we were, because one of those poor children could have been my son who might have changed his library book that very time.’
On 4 January 1945, Dalston Library was hit by a V2 rocket. Two library assistants – Harry George Sparks and Gertrude May Parish – were among the dead [3}
Maria Alvarez Enchenique will be responding to this tragedy with a small ceramic installation for one day between 10.30am and 3.30pm on Monday 11th Novemeber 2013, Remembrance Day as part of the Londonwide and international event Silent Cacophony 2013 [click for more] www.mazchenik.co.uk
1. The blitz damage photos here are from the collection at Hackney Archives. You are very welcome to visit the Archives to see more of our old photographs, newspapers, maps and other records. For our contact details and information on our opening hours, have a look at our website at www.hackney.gov.uk/ca-archives.
2. This extract on Flickr of a local newspaper article, written later, is the only item on the internet that can be found that gives an account of Dalston library tragedy. Please feel free to send more details to add to this blog post and update the information available. remembrance@platfom-7.com
Flickr Image: surflondondunc : http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarflondondunc/with/3749177044/
3. Lafferty, Julia. Summer 2008, The Hackney Society, News and views about Hackney’s built, environment http://www.hackneysociety.org/documents/spaces211.pdf