Hereford Horseman Posted 4 January , 2017 Share Posted 4 January , 2017 The 19th January sees the centenary of the Silvertown Explosion and the Eastside Community Centre will be hosting an exhibition to commemorate the biggest bang ever heard in the UK..... 73 dead, 700 homes destroyed and a further 70,000 homes damaged.... quite a tally. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 4 January , 2017 Share Posted 4 January , 2017 1 hour ago, Hereford Horseman said: The 19th January sees the centenary of the Silvertown Explosion and the Eastside Community Centre will be hosting an exhibition to commemorate the biggest bang ever heard in the UK..... 73 dead, 700 homes destroyed and a further 70,000 homes damaged.... quite a tally. Interesting as a completely new one to me - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgibson150 Posted 16 January , 2017 Share Posted 16 January , 2017 There is another event re the centenary of the Silvertown explosion, which is to be held at Christ Church Oxford on 17 March. The Chief Chemist at the factory was an undergraduate and Tutor at Christ Church. Background This is an afternoon symposium to commemorate the centenary of the death of Andrea Angel (an undergraduate and Chemistry Tutor at Christ Church) in the Silvertown Explosion at the Brunner-Mond factory in East London on January 19th 1917. When a fire broke out in the TNT processing area, about 50 tons ignited. The resulting explosion killed 73 people and injured over 400. Up to 70,000 properties in the surrounding area were damaged; 900 nearby were destroyed or unsalvageable. The resulting fires were visible from Maidstone and Guildford and the blast was heard over 100 miles away. When the fire broke out Angel, who was Chief Chemist at the site, went in to rescue his workers and was killed in the explosion. In recognition of his heroism he was awarded (amongst other tributes) the Edward Medal (1st Class) – precursor to the George Cross. Angel is the first name on the World War 1 memorials at Exeter School, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and the Royal Society of Chemistry in addition being remembered on a memorial stone located near the site of the explosion. He has also recently been recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry as one of their “175 Faces of Chemistry” and a Blue Plaque has just been approved for display on the site of his Oxford Banbury Road home by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. The first half of the afternoon will focus on Andrea Angel, the Brunner-Mond Factory, and life in Christ Church during the World Wars. These will be followed in the second session by talks about Professor Lindemann’s role in World War 2 and Chemical Warfare and the World Wars. The afternoon session will be concluded by a short discussion concerning the moral questions faced by scientists in the context of defence and warfare. There will be an accompanying exhibition in the college’s Picture Gallery where it is hoped to display various heirlooms from the Angel family archive including the Edward Medal and other honours together with contemporary press cuttings etc. There will also be a poster display by pupils from Exeter School (Angel’s secondary school). In addition to members of the college, it is intended that the event should be open to members of the University, the Royal Society of Chemistry and members of the wider public (though numbers are limited to 100 attendees). To book your place, go to: https://chchchemistryandtheworldwars.eventbrite.co.uk David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 I was looking recently for a list of those killed in the explosion. A soldier I was researching had a sister in Silvertown who died in 1917 and I was wondering if she was a victim. I looked in the BNA newspaper collection on-line but failed to find anything. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereford Horseman Posted 17 January , 2017 Author Share Posted 17 January , 2017 22 hours ago, dgibson150 said: There is another event re the centenary of the Silvertown explosion, which is to be held at Christ Church Oxford on 17 March. The Chief Chemist at the factory was an undergraduate and Tutor at Christ Church. This is an afternoon symposium to commemorate the centenary of the death of Andrea Angel (an undergraduate and Chemistry Tutor at Christ Church) in the Silvertown Explosion at the Brunner-Mond factory in East London on January 19th 1917. When a fire broke out in the TNT processing area, about 50 tons ignited. The resulting explosion killed 73 people and injured over 400. Up to 70,000 properties in the surrounding area were damaged; 900 nearby were destroyed or unsalvageable. The resulting fires were visible from Maidstone and Guildford and the blast was heard over 100 miles away. David David, many thanks for posting this, my great-grandfather, Carl Langer, was chief chemist for Brunner-Mond, based at Clydach in South Wales. He argued against the conversion of the factory for TNT production but was over-ruled by the Government who had virtual control of Brunner-Mond for the duration. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgibson150 Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 Hi HH I have no direct interest in the explosion. Having read Chemistry at Christ Church, I was sent the notification and thought it would be of interest to some Forum members - hence the post. I don't know if you have read the additional details on the eventbrite.co.uk link, but Sir Hugo Brunner will be speaking at the event on “The Brunner-Mond factory and WWI”. It would be interesting to hear how he covers factory conversion issue. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 Perth Digger, as a start was her death registered in the Jan,Feb, March quarter of 1917? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 Sensible suggestion CGM and I have now found out that she died in the June quarter of 1917, aged 20. The family lived in Oriental Rd, Silvertown. It's therefore unlikely that she died as a result of the explosion. Her mother died in September 1917 of liver cancer and two brothers were killed in that year in France, one in April and one in September. Not a good year for the Langley family. Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 (edited) A very bad year indeed. Many people died of their injuries after the event so still worth wondering about her death. Not all would have been listed in, for example, official lists. What was her name? I will have a look. CGM Edited 17 January , 2017 by CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 On 4 January 2017 at 13:56, Hereford Horseman said: The 19th January sees the centenary of the Silvertown Explosion and the Eastside Community Centre will be hosting an exhibition to commemorate the biggest bang ever heard in the UK..... 73 dead, 700 homes destroyed and a further 70,000 homes damaged.... quite a tally. HH Thank you for posting. I knew of the explosion but had not quite grasped its size before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 17 January , 2017 Share Posted 17 January , 2017 (edited) On 1/4/2017 at 13:56, Hereford Horseman said: The 19th January sees the centenary of the Silvertown Explosion and the Eastside Community Centre will be hosting an exhibition to commemorate the biggest bang ever heard in the UK..... 73 dead, 700 homes destroyed and a further 70,000 homes damaged.... quite a tally. HH Due to the time of day, fewer than 40 of the victims were in the TNT factory itself. The blast was heard as far away as Sandringham Norfolk. The title of "worst ever in the history of the uk explosives industry" occured in Faversham the previous year, when at 14.20 on 2nd April 1916. 200 tons of TNT exploded (50 Tons in Silvertown). No Women were at work as it was Sunday, yet 115 died including all of the men and boys of the works Fire Brigade. A further 3,000 tons was stored nearby. Calls were made to ensure nothing like it should happen again. The deadliest blast occured at Chilwell Nottinghamshire. on 1st July 1918, when a blast involving 8 tons of TNT killed 137 and injured 250+. Only 32 of the dead could be identified. Edited 17 January , 2017 by GWF1967 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgibson150 Posted 19 January , 2017 Share Posted 19 January , 2017 (edited) Lives of the First World War featured this explosion in an e-mail I received today. There is lots of information available. I am not sure how insert the link, but here goes here hopefully. David Edited 19 January , 2017 by dgibson150 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxi Posted 19 January , 2017 Share Posted 19 January , 2017 David Thank you for the link which worked perfectly. Maxi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 19 January , 2017 Share Posted 19 January , 2017 Featured on the BBC's London TV news this evening. Some images and eyewitness accounts from the feature can be found Here NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 19 January , 2017 Share Posted 19 January , 2017 6 hours ago, dgibson150 said: Lives of the First World War featured this explosion in an e-mail I received today. There is lots of information available. I am not sure how insert the link, but here goes here hopefully. David 32 minutes ago, NigelS said: Featured on the BBC's London TV news this evening. Some images and eyewitness accounts from the feature can be found Here NigelS Thanks for the links Gents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Underdown Posted 20 January , 2017 Share Posted 20 January , 2017 @Perth Digger there is a memorial on the site, it names the Brunner-Mond employees who died, but not all 74 who died (69 outright, four from injuries over the next few days). 98 more were seriously injured, so it's possible that some of those did die of related causes subsequently. There's a blog post by a friend of mine here https://opusculum.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/explosion-at-silvertown/ - and if you click in the image in his tweet here you should get a bigger version where you may be able to make out some of the names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perth Digger Posted 26 January , 2017 Share Posted 26 January , 2017 Thanks for the link, David. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelday Posted 29 January , 2017 Share Posted 29 January , 2017 (edited) Thank-you @David_Underdown. In case it is of interest, I will upload my photograph of the Brunner Mond memorial at Silvertown here. Please note that the memorial has been moved since I took the photograph (2014) to a more central part of the Royal Wharf development. Here is my transcript of the Silvertown Explosion face of the memorial (my apologies for any errors); it contains 16 names: Quote AND TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO WHILST SERVING THEIR COUNTRY BY MAKING T.N.T. PERISHED IN THE EXPLOSION IN THESE WORKS JANUARY 19TH 1917 Andrea Angel, Edward Medal James Bruce Sidney Joseph Benstead John George Chandler Charles Downing Catherine Elizabeth Hodge George Henry Hopkins William Lambert Walter Mauger Hugh Mc.Coombs James Henry Reeve Henry Rogers Samuel Saunders Walter Ernest Sharpe David Taylor George Edgar Oliver Wenborn, Edward Medal Two of the other faces are regular war memorials for employees from the works that died in both world wars. Here is my transcription of the First World War face: Quote TO THE GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THE MEN FROM THESE WORKS WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919 Alfred Farmer, H.M.S. Indefatigable Walter Edward Farmer, H.M.S. Indefatigable Thomas Field, 3rd S. Staff. R. Henry William Harrington, 1st Bedf. R. Lionel Albert Langdon, 7th Bedf. R. Walter Mc.Grane, 7th Bedf. R. Duncan Walker, 8th R. Berks. R. Stokers 1st Class Alfred and William Edward Farmer both perished at the Battle of Jutland; their names are on the Chatham Naval Memorial. Langdon and McGrane both died on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, when 7th Bedfordshires were part of the 18th (Eastern) Division attack; both of their names feature on the Thiepval Memorial. Edited 29 January , 2017 by michaelday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 30 January , 2017 Share Posted 30 January , 2017 Can you tell me where this monument is, please? The blog page says that it's been moved, but doesn't say the location. It also refers to two other memorials - one for a policeman and one for the firemen who were killed - do you know where these are as well, please? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 30 January , 2017 Share Posted 30 January , 2017 (edited) There is a memorial to the two firemen (and the two children of firemen who also lost their lives in the explosion) in West Ham Cemetery. The link takes you to two images. CGM Edited 30 January , 2017 by CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 2 February , 2017 Share Posted 2 February , 2017 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MGrossel Posted 5 February , 2017 Share Posted 5 February , 2017 Many thanks for taking an interest in the Christ Church conference which I am organising. If anyone is interested in attending please be aware that spaces are limited (the lecture theatre is quite small!). I hope that we will be able to video-record the lectures that afternoon and release them as podcasts. MCG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgibson150 Posted 5 February , 2017 Share Posted 5 February , 2017 I hope the podcasts materialise. Sicily is not handy for attending UK events. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now