14 June 1917 Air raid on London

[Clive Temple]

Hello Pals,

Trying to trace Ivor Moore, Chairman of the Governors of Woking County School. According to the school mag and a memorial stone in the school hall he was killed in London in the Gotha raid on 14 June.

But I can't find any Moore or Moor on CWGC that fits. Does anyone have any other list of casualties for this raid?

Thanks.

[NigelS]

Clive

Looks like a civilian death; there's an obituary in the Times:

Friday, Jun 15, 1917; pg. 1; Issue 41505; col A

If you're an SCC Library Member you should be able to get 'at home' access on line to The Times Archive; needless to say here is quite a bit of coverage on air raids at the time.

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccw...me?opendocument

Hope this is useful to you

NigelS

Edit: Clive, just noticed your location, so the SCC Times access is probably unlikely!; I'd assumed from your connection with the Woodham Memorial you were in Surrey!

[NigelS]

A few more 'cuttings' from The Times (PtI)

The Times, Thursday, Jun 14, 1917; pg. 7; Issue 41504; col G

Article CS118950094

Air Raid On London. 97 Killed; 439 Injured., Midday Attack By 15 Aeroplanes., Bombs On School And Train.

NigelS

[NigelS]

A few more 'cuttings' from The Times (PtII)

The Times, Saturday, Jun 16, 1917; pg. 4; Issue 41506; col C

Article CS67700944

Child Victims Of The Enemy. Affecting Stories At The Inquests., Utility Of Warnings.

There is a further article with general coverage (as can be imagined with a school bombed this attack received a great deal of press attention):

The Times, Friday, Jun 15, 1917; pg. 3; Issue 41505; col A

Article CS50530511

The Air Attack On London. 104 Dead And 423 Injured., Question Of Warnings.

If you can't gain access to The Times Digital Archive it should be possible to email you pdfs of the pages which contain these articles if you let me have your email address by PM (approx 0.8MB per page)

NigelS

[NigelS]

A bit more info from the 1901 census:

Thomas Ivor Moore aged 42 living at 'Craiglea', Mount Hermon Rd., Civil Engineer Surveyor, 2nd Class, HM War Dept, born Newport, Monmouth; Wife Florence G Moore, aged 32, born Lambeth. Son Thomas I Moore, aged 3, born Edinburgh (Also Rosa Smith, aged 18, Nurse, Housemaid & Mary Alice Maidment, aged 23, Cook)

I wonder if his son - said to be serving as an officer in one of the cuttings above - survived the war? (there aren't any TI Moores, but quite a number of T. Moores given on the CWGC, but many have no Next of Kin details given, so difficult to determine.

NigelS

[Clive Temple]

Thanks pals, much appreciated.

Do you think his death at a 'railway station' can be assumed to be Liverpool Street Station?

Any idea why he's not on the CWGC civilian list?

[NigelS]

Do you think his death at a 'railway station' can be assumed to be Liverpool Street Station?

Any idea why he's not on the CWGC civilian list?

Possibly, this article in Flight http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/vie...20-%200626.html

indicates that place names were suppressed, certainly, from what's written elsewhere, Liverpool Street Station was at the heart of this raid, although I have seen Fenchurch Street mentioned elsewhere as well; haven't been able to find anything (as yet) to tie up where the train was when it was hit. I would imagine that this must have been one of the earliest examples of a train being hit by aerial bombing

Did CWGC list civilian deaths in 14-18?

This might also be of interest:

http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/archi...l.php?id=201884

(I have emailed the DSA the obit. details so they can add it to their record)

I'd missed on the Times Obit that he was actually Thomas Ivor-Moore; from this, his son did survive WWI (the 'additional information' on CWGC is pretty conclusive!) and went on to serve in WWII with, apparently quite a distinguished career.

http://www.generals.dk/general/Ivor-Moore/...at_Britain.html

and from the CWGC

Name: IVOR MOORE, THOMAS

Initials: T

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Brigadier

Regiment/Service: Royal Tank Regiment, R.A.C.

Secondary Regiment: General Staff

Secondary Unit Text: and Commands and Staff.

Age: 48

Date of Death: 18/04/1946

Awards: C B E, M C

Additional information: Son of Thomas and Florence Gertrude Ivor Moore.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: On Lawn (By railway line), Grave 211270.

Cemetery: BROOKWOOD CEMETERY

I wonder if he might have picked up his MC in WW1?

NigelS

[Clive Temple]

Thanks Nigel, yes CWGC lists about 500 WW1 civilians, not sure if that would be comprehensive.

[NigelS]

NigelS said:

I wonder if he might have picked up his MC in WW1?

Replying to my own question: Yes he did

London Gazette Issue 30513 published on the 5 February 1918. Page 7631/2

Citation for Military Cross

2nd Lt. Thomas Ivor Moore, Worc. Reg. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of machine guns. Being Held up during his advance by a hostile machine gun, he organised a bombing party, with which he successfully outflanked and destroyed the enemy gun and its team. His conduct set a splendid example of courage determination.

His MIC is on Ancestry, but I've posted it on a seperate thread with the hope that somebody might be able to answer some queries on it:

 

It also turns out that both father and son are buried at Brookwood Cemetery; John M. Clarke gives in London's Necropolis: A guide to Brookwood Cemetery, page 218

 

 

8.27 Thomas Ivor Moore (1858-1917) [Plot 110]

Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Imperial Institute, London. Moore lived in Woking for many years and was a magistrate, Chairman of the Higher Education Committee for Woking and a member of the Wesleyan Church. As recorded on his memorial, Moore was killed during an air raid on London on 13 June 1917. This involved fourteen Gotha aeroplanes that bombed the City and the East End. The raid killed 162 people and wounded another 432. Of these, eighteen Children were killed and thirty injured when a bomb hit a school. Liverpool Street Station was also hit. The total of 594 dead an injured was the highest for any individual air raid during the whole of the First World War. The raids caused a panic demand for strengthening the air defences of London, so the War Cabinet ordered the return of a fighter squadron from France.

Thomas Moore

(died 1946), his son, was a Colonel in the Royal Tank Regiment

NigelS

[martinb]

In the book "The Gotha Summer" say of Wednesday 13th June 1917 that 72 bombs were released with a mile radius of Liverpool Street. In the City three of the bombs landed squarely on Liverpool Street Staion itself , wrecking two trains, one of which caught fire, sixteen men died, including three trapped in the blazing coaches, another 15 were injured, many by flying glass.There were heavy casualties in the Fenchurch Street/Algate area but no mention of the deaths or damage at Fenchurch Street Station itself.

[Aspern]

Thanks pals, much appreciated.

Do you think his death at a 'railway station' can be assumed to be Liverpool Street Station?

Any idea why he's not on the CWGC civilian list?

Hi - Liverpool Street was the only station where casualties occu.red during the daylight raid of 13 June 1917. 16 were killed and 15 injured. One hit Platform 9 and destroyed one carriage of the train just about to depart for Hunstanton, and two other carriages burst into flames. A second bomb fell on a train whose carriages were being used by military doctors to carry out medical examinations.

Siefried Sassoon the war poet was at Liverpool Street that day while on leave and wrote, 'In a trench one was acclimatized to the notion of being exterminated and there was a sense of organized retaliation. But here one was helpless; an invisible enemy sent destruction spinning down from a fine weather sky.'

[bootneck]

There are two reports, both with a photograph, relating to the death and funeral of Thomas Ivor Moore and the dedication of the memorial to him in the Woking News & Mail on 28 June 1917 and 18 January 1918 respectively.

The memorial was made of copper and is held by the Lightbox in Woking. It has recently been photographed for the forthcoming Woking Remembers exhibition to be held at Surrey History Centre during November.

regards

Bootneck

[Hugh Jampton]

The Gotha raid of 13 June 1917 also gave the East End it's worst day of the war with a direct hit on Upper North Street School, Poplar.

The bomb smashed through the roof, penetrating though three floors and exploding in the infant's department killing 18 children.

My grandfather was at home that day in Swale Street and ru shed up the street to help clear the rubble.

My Mum attended the school as a pupil 10 years later.

Not relevant to this thread but hope it widens our knowledge of those two days

[PeterSt]

There are two reports, both with a photograph, relating to the death and funeral of Thomas Ivor Moore and the dedication of the memorial to him in the Woking News & Mail on 28 June 1917 and 18 January 1918 respectively.

The memorial was made of copper and is held by the Lightbox in Woking. It has recently been photographed for the forthcoming Woking Remembers exhibition to be held at Surrey History Centre during November.

regards

Bootneck

This sounds very interesting information. I am distantly related to the Thomas Ivor Moores abd have lots of info. about them. I would very much like to see these two newspaper articles.

Peter