Friday 1st November 1940 – South Island Place & Crewdson Road

Almost exactly one month since the last battering the bombers returned and managed to not just hit the same part of Crewdson Road but to smash a chunk out of South Island Place too.

A summary of the incident

Time that the bombs hit	23:15
Type of bomb/s	High Explosive
Was anyone hurt or killed?	One person was killed, many were injured
Where did the bombs land?	On top of houses on Crewdson Road and South Island Place
Were houses damaged?	Yes, some completely demolished
Were businesses damaged?	No
Were there evacuations?	Yes

In memory of those that were killed in this incident

Using the invaluable Commonwealth War Graves Commission website I have been able to find the following casualties from this incident

Name	Morris Jolka
Age	68
Other Information	Russian National; of 13 Varden Street. Husband of Sarah Jolka. Died at 39 Crewsdon Road.

Sites of the bombs are indicated with red dots on the map below:

The civil defence incident log reads:

Date	1.11.40
Time	23:35 PM
Position of Occurance	Crewdson Road
Type of bombs	High Explosive
Casualties (Approx)	2
Whether any trapped under wreckage	2
Fire	No
Damage to Mains	Water & Coal Gas
Names of any roads blocked	Nil
Position of any unexploded bombs	Nil
Time of occurance	23:15
Notes	/

The civil defence messages sent back and forth to the local ARP (Air raid precaution) depot read as follows:

Date	Time	Text of Message
1.11.40	23:29 PM	Express Report Casualties at Crewdson Road
1.11.40	23:59 PM	Express Report Casualties at 36 South Island place
2.11.40	2:27 AM	Supplementary Report Crewdson Road. 23:15 hrs. High Explosive.
		41,43,39 demolished.
		37,35 partly demolished.
		2 persons trapped on first floor. 1 since released.
		R/P in attendance. Road cleaning services required.
2.11.40	2:30 AM	Supplementary Report South Island Place. 23:15 hrs. High Explosive.
		26-48 South Island Place severely damaged. 5 slightly injured.
		1 serious. R/P number 8 left for depot. Road cleaning services required.
		Several cases of shock were taken to Belgrave Hospital by wardens.
2.11.40	8:55 AM	Please send car for a casualty (badly sprained or broken ankle) at 60A Brixton Road.
		Please call at post in direction (Crewdson Road incident) Casualty just discovered.
2.11.40	9:51 AM	Supplementary Report One civilian death. Body at 39 Crewdson Road. M.O.H informed.
2.11.40	11:16 AM	There are 48 homeless from the Crewdson Road incident in Christ Church Hall.
		Mr Wilcox informed. As there is not sufficient accomodation here any arrangements are being made.
2.11.40	14:06 PM	Supplementary Report Crewdson Road & South Island Place. 23:15 hrs. High Explosive.
		29 to 59 Crewdson Road uninhabitable.
		31 to 51 Crewdson Road demolished.
		26 to 22 South Island Place uninhabitable.
		46 to 28 South Island Place demolished.
		48 South Island Place partly demolished

Back to Bombing incidents within our area from 1940