Wednesday 16th April 1941 – Brixton Road, Decca Shelter, Offley Road

Factories and docks were the Luftwaffe’s favourite targets and on 16th April 1941 bombs landed on both the Decca Records factory and yet again on Sharwood’s…

A summary of the incident

Time that the bombs hit	Between 23.25 and 23:30
Type of bomb/s	High Explosive & Incendiary
Was anyone hurt or killed?	There were casualties
Where did the bombs land?	One landed on an industrial park at the top of Brixton Road, the other on the Sharwood's factory
Were houses damaged?	No
Were businesses damaged?	Yes
Were there evacuations?	The public shelter was evacuated

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

There are two Civil Defence incident logs for this bombing raid, the first reads:

Date	Time	Text of Message
13.3.41	19:53 PM	38 South Island Place. No furniture remains on these premises & the building is now being demolished by the contractors.

And the second…

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

The Brixton Road Decca Shelter messages are as follows:

Date	Time	Text of Message
16.4.41	23:26 AM	Express Report. Fire at - Brixton Road - corner of Offley Road. Fire.
16.4.41	23:25 AM	Express Report, Decca public shelter. Casualties at Shelter 1-3 Brixton Road, entrance in Cranmer Road.
17.4.41	7:44 AM	Supplementary Report Decca Gram Company 1/3 Brixton Road. 21:02 - High Explosive.
		Depot works destroyed by fire.
		Public shelter uninhabitable owing to severe blast and water.
		Fire brigade still in attendance.
		Following this incident Cromptons factory was also destroyed by fire and large adjacent area severely damaged by blast. RP/R required.
17.4.41	1:14 AM	Supplementary Report Cromptons Factory - 1/3 Brixton Road.
		Owing to fire at the above address, have evacuated Decca public shelter.
		People put into nearby shelter.
17.4.41	12:21 AM	High Explosive. 1-3 Brixton Road. Gas main burst and alight.
17.4.41	7:56 AM	Supplementart Report Cromptons Factory - 1/3 Brixton Road.21:02 hrs. High Explosive.
		Cromptons Ltd completely destroyed.
		Casualties - nil.
		Owing to severe nature of fire spreading from Decca Ltd, Mears & Caldwell & Robinson's Ltd were badly damaged.
		Fire brigade still working on all above premises.
		Large area damaged by blast.
21.4.41	12:35 PM	It hs just been reported to us by P.C 339 that the wall at Crompton's Ltd 1-3 Brixton Road is dangerous, threatening to fall into footway. Will necessary precautions be taken?

The Offley Road – Sharwoods Factory messages are as follows: