Yes, well done, Jago. This subject was not suitable for your usual jokiness - which we all usually enjoy - and your sensitivity and thoughtfulness in maintaining a more sombre and caring tone shone out. Thank you.
I grew up around Bethnal Green in the early 70s and had no idea about this until years later when I read about it - and then a few years ago there was the Channel 4 documentary 'Ghosts of the Underground' which has a chilling tale about this. This video brought a tear to my eye.
Hiting like feels wrong but you handled this in a factual and sensitive manner and it is your treatment and respect that I am liking. The silence at the end is very telling...
My mother was a teenager living in Bethnal Green during the war and spent only a few nights down the underground at the beginning of the Blitz. She refused to go any more because it was so disgusting. The tragedy was not known fully at the time and she told me that rumours were rife as to the cause. By lunch time she realised that a few of the girls where she worked as a machinist had been killed. The empty sewing machines places haunted her more than most of her war time experiences.
3rd March 2023 will mark 80 years sinse the disaster. I hope that Tfl, LB Tower Hamlets and local charities and organisations can come together and organise a truly fitting commemorative event. It's the least that can be done to honour the poor victims of this terrible tragedy. A very moving video. Thanks, Jago.
It took nearly 50 years just to get that tiny plaque above the entrance. By the time the staircase to heaven memoral opened in 2017 opened, vertually no survivors were allowed... a disgraceful situation that all the authorities - London Transport, the LCC, the GLC, the Borough of Bethnal Green and its sucessor Tower Hamlets - should all be ashamed of
I have visited this memorial, and one of the saddest things about it, which was not mentioned in this video, is that it incorporates comments from survivors. One of these is from a woman whose younger sister was one of the victims. When she got home, her mother would not speak to her again, because she had not saved her sister.
😢 It was such a traumatic event that need not have happened, given there was no bombing at the time. But enduring air attacks for months was bound to create serious nervousness in people so any hint of an attack made them rush to the shelter. The rest you know from the video. RIP💐.
A visit at night would also have shown images of those named of the memorial projected onto the flat side of it ...a very ingenious and thoughtful addition to the memorial
Best way to lose 2 children instead of 1... Dead seems to be always preferred than the living, the mom should have been happy to have at least 1 alive from the event.
The "Stairway" had about 110 family names by my count. That means many families lost multiple members and there were also probably injuries to others in the same family. So not just the worst disaster, but extremely impactful on a relatively small number of families. To me that makes it even worse. I shudder to think of the impact on the local community.
On one of the bronze plaques seen in the video, I saw three sets of "Snr" and "Jr". And to see my own last name on there is also rather chilling, even though my family left Britain a couple centuries ago.
Very sensitively handled. When I was still teaching (retired now) I used to refer to this event when talking about shelters. I wish that I had had this video then in order to enhance my student's understanding.
I worked at Bethnal Green in the late 80s early 90s as you left the station there was a plaque with the names of those that died. It was stark and hard-hitting, illustrating that families lost generations of their members. Walking down the steps you feel how steep the incline is and as you descend that you can reach up and touch the top of the entrance tunnel as you walk through. A very informative and sad addition to the channel, thank you
Apparently, sounds of screaming (especially womens' voices) can still be heard (though it has been suggested that the noise is from surface traffic filtering down).
After discussing this tragedy, I noticed Jago ended the video without his usual spiel. That was in very good taste. It makes me suspect that he, unlike a lot of other creators, truly cares about what he produces.
The Kray twins were nearly killed in that crush and only just got out of it which makes you wonder how different things in London would later be without them.
As a side note: the wood for the memorial came from a sunken freighter. I think it's teak; the architects didn't fancy chopping down forest and regarded farmed teak as not being of good enough quality. The freighter went down in the Irish sea during WW2 and the wood's still quite usable.
Although well known about in the area, it wasn't until the 70s and 80s that this tragedy became more widely known. My Mum was in the Mile End station with my older brother and sister at the time. She also narrowly missed being the victim of a bomb that fell on a house in our street. They had just got in the new Anderson shelter in our back garden. The shelter later became a rockery and survived until they sold up in the late 70s. Could still be there for all I know.. True story.. Thanks JH.
My mother in Stafford had heard of it. She has no connection with anyone in London, but I remember when a TV documentary was broadcast about it in the 70s, she said she could remember it happening.
It seems mildly incongruous to me, but then, civic art has that effect on me pretty generally. I think I'm missing a gene somewhere for appreciating it...
Thank you, Jago, I live but metres from this and it is a constant reminder of those who lost their lives. I am still stunned to this day that it took the organisers so long to reach their funding target and disappointed that they had to rely on public donations to complete it.
My god, that is such an incredible part of history. Incredibly well dealt with, I am impressed you managed to get your voice to stay even when delivering such tragically upsetting news.
I was born in Bethnal Green in 1952. My mother who was 16 at the time of the disaster in 1943 told me that she had just got down to the platform when it happened. A narrow escape for both of us.
Thank you Jago My Mother was a teenager living in Victoria/Lambeth during the war so I have many memorises of stories at the knee That particular Story Is one of the Reasons That although I used the Underground for many years BUT I have never Lingered long And to this day at 67rs old panic in a Crowed
@@adonaiyah2196 Human crush accidents are some of the most horrifyingly preventable disasters there are. Several have happened as a result of fires, when people run back to the entrance they came in by, rather than the nearest fire exit, no matter how well signposted it is.
You presented this video very respectfully, as the subject deserves, thank you. My Grandfather was one of the policemen involved in the rescue operation.
Nicely done Jago. My Grandmother, Aunt and Mother were local residents, living in Globe Road. That fateful day they were making their way to the tube station to shelter when the AA rockets went off. As mentioned, the new rockets were experimental and secret, and the noise when they were fired panicked everyone. My Grandmother dragged my Aunt and my Mum (then aged 7 and 5) into the nearby church for shelter. Had she not done that they would almost certainly have been caught up in the disaster.
The second worst disaster on railway premises in Great Britain, exceeded only by the Quintinshill disaster of 1915. Ignored by most books on railway disasters, I only became aware of what happened at Bethnal Green when my old chief clerk mentioned that it was the 50th anniversary of the incident, and described in vivid detail what happened, he had been brought up in the area and was a teenager at the time. Some years later I passed through the station and to say that the place gave me the creeps is an understatement. According to "Rails Through the Clay" wooden hoardings were erected over this type of station entrance after the disaster, so that the lighting of stairs could be improved without falling foul of blackout regulations.
My Dad an American GI during the war talked of having been in London during the bombings raids during is time in the UK. He mentioned the reaction when the sirens went off, to seek shelter quickly -- often in the Underground -- and often by following the crowd. I never expected to find myself doing that but did seven years ago I needed to run to the shelter when the sirens went off in a war zone. It is both hard to imagine and yet easy to imagine what happened at Bethnal Green -- 71 years later and mankind has not figured out how to do this to each other.
The sensitivity with which you handle the video is for all possible praise. The attention to detail and the respectful silence at the end is very touching. As always, fantastic work.
You’ve been excellent at knowing what to say. This tine, you were excellent at knowing both what to say and what not to say. This was informing and respectful of the sad events of that evening.
This video is a truly worthy memorial to the tragedy, along with the Stairway to Heaven itself. Not a word out of place, everything done with dignity and total respect for all those who lost their lives that sad day. Sir. I salute you.
They had used the new “Z battery” which was a version of rocket unlike normal anti aircraft guns which were rounds and shells .The metal working firm G. A. Harvey and Co of Greenwich was given the contract to manufacture the rocket bodies, who were more used to making drain covers and radiators . There were a number of them sited around the South East of England.
Thank for making these videos. I live in the east end and have always knew how historically rich london is, yet given the busy life we have ive never really been able to explore much (even being born here). This channel brings the history to me and i can tell my friends about it. Appreciate it.
Nicely done. Sensitive. I learned about this as a kid. It stuck in my mind. Crowd surges with fatalities are well documented. Hillsborough has just been on the news. In a hostel I worked at a couple of years ago, the fire regs specifically wanted a set clearance in the alleyway to allow a flow rate based on people moving at a certain rate. It was something like either 700 or 750mm.
I suppose it was because that's the sort of thing that's typically only installed as a project reaches completion. A lot of fence railings and other such fittings had also been removed early in the War for recycling, although I think in practice much of it was never used and simply remained in storage.
Safety laws have improved dramatically since then, as tragedies have revealed a need for higher standards. In the 1940s, centre handrails weren't required on wide stairways. Today, laws require additional handrails at specific intervals of wide stairways.
A shopping centre near me only installed a centre handrail on a small staircase (about 8 steps) in the past couple of years. I remember suddenly noticing it.
This is a grim start to my day, but I thank you for educating me on something that I had noticed on the several visits to Bethnal Green via the station.
An excellent and sobering video. Your tone is exactly right, treating such a terrible event with the respect it deserves. In David Long's wonderfully informative 'The Little Book Of The London Underground', there is a list of all the casualties, along with their ages. It's a very hard read, especially when there are several members of the same family listed. Most depressingly, are, of course, women, and young, often very young, children.
How many people in this video going in and out of the station even know about this tragic story? . Thank you Jago, you covered this story really well and sensitively 🙂
My neighbour was a young girl living in Bethnal Green at the time, and remembers when the disaster happened. She, like me, had no idea that any memorial had ever been built. When I saw it for myself, I took a photo of it. A few days later. We were talking, and I mentioned that I'd seen it, still not knowing that she had any connexion to the area. Fortunately, I still had the photo on my phone, so I could print her a copy. To an ever shrinking group, this memorial is very important.
It’s mad to me that this is a living memory to some alive today, you’d only have to be 90 years old or so and from around this area to remember this when you were about 10.
I'm stumped at how the stairs at the top of the memorial were constructed, since it looks very heavy, and doesn't appear to have any support except at one corner.
Not all killed in war are military personnel, I think this is a fitting tribute to the civilian causalities of an incident during a wartime event, for they should not be forgotten.......
This wasn't even caused by a "warlike act", such as a bomb hitting them. I know another Underground station was hit, a water main was burst too, and some people drowned.
As a former resident of Bethnal Green, thankyou for bringing this story to everyone's attention. We should not forget what those generations who witnessed that war went through, amidst shortages and rationing, and loss of homes and family members. And the phrase they used? "Doesn't do to grumble". You could not have told it better, as the comments below attest.
Long before I enjoyed "learning and researching London history", the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster was one of the few 'stories' that stuck in my head for just how awful it was. When so many people are killed not through enemy bombing but through sheer accident and bad luck it makes it seem all the more harsh and "worse" (not meaning to sound too callous). It stuck in my head as it was always debated what exactly had occurred, with the confusion and even debate over the noise coming from the test firings in Victoria Park, and did leave a bad taste in the mouths of some of how the whole thing was 'hushed up' and not officially recognised for many years, even arguably after the war had ended. The wet slippery steps from rain, the lack of centre handrail and other factors made it a terrible accident, and reminds us that war can bring about so many terrible things, not just from the enemy but from sheer panic. Thankfully in more recent years it has finally been remembered and recognised more accordingly. Another good video and sympathetically done, JH.
There have since been reports of hauntings at Bethnal Green Station ever since - the most common being the sounds of women and children's cries being heard by railway employees after the station has closed for the night....
There is a campaign that's been running for a few years for an appropriate memorial at Bethnal Green. A memorial not only to the people but the callousness of the Government of the time , initially delaying access to the Tube for shelter , and then dragging their feet on the construction of deep shelters for civilian population . A very sad story kept quiet at the time. Like the Flying exploding gas main stories of the early V2s. Well done with sensitivity Jago
A very well done piece handled with the sensitivity it deserved. While I knew of the disaster I didn't know about the other uses of the tube aside from shelter and Churchills bunker, an aircraft factory sounds very intriguing and a very clever use of space.
Beautiful and respectful video. I worked on the BG memorial history project that built the schools lesson pack and the memoryscape trail and we did a touring exhibition too. We interviewed all survivors and relatives of those who died - Bishopsgate Archives have all the oral history tapes of those interviews. The nurses had their doors knocked on and were told to keep quiet about the scale of it, and the church next door was turned into a morgue with all the bodies laid out for identification. Awful event. The community should have been told about the new rocket testing so they could expect a new sound. The government failed them. Anyway that's my local area I'm absolutely gutted that I missed you!! Not that I know what you look like haha
My family lived In Bethnal green for over a century. The legacy ended when my uncle Arthur passed away in 2008,aged 83. He was working as a messenger at the time of the disaster,doing his bit for the war effort,before he was old enough to join up. He was actually cycling past the tube station and heard a load of screaming going on ,but could not investigate,as he had a message to deliver! My mum who was 8 years younger and is now 88, remembers him coming home that night and telling them "something's going on down the tube " In 2009, my mum and I was on a Mediterranean cruise and met a brother and sister around her age ,they clocked we had the same accents and told us they survived the disaster,as they were at the top and pulled to safety
Jago Once again you bring life to a story. I was alrady very much aware of this disaster. However as ever you succeed in turning a distant story into such a real event . I love how you suspend your usual quiet flipancy and irony to give proper respect and dignity to this horrible event. Well done
Thank you, Jago, for your sensitive approach to a grim subject. I was aware of the disaster, but seeing the names on the memorial suggested to me that some of those who died may have been distant relations of mine. I shall have to do some more genealogical research on my East End ancestors.
There was a 1975 TV movie about the disaster called 'It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow' which was written by Bernard Kops. Sadly, it seems no copies of it survive.
Very sensitively done video. Were there other similar disasters during the use of the Underground stations during WW2? I recall that there was a flooding of Parsons Green station during a raid that hit a water main. It would be interesting to hear of others. The underground stations saved so many lives during the blitz. It’s all part of the rich history of the London tube. I love your videos, I loved the tube when I lived in London for 8 yrs in the 1980s. I now live in rural Australia but your videos bring me back to the great days of my youth where I would travel every where by the tube. I had many adventures on the system! Oh I have many a funny story of what happened while travelling! You see it all on the tube! A great channel, Jago. I always enjoy your dry humour and great knowledge.
My mother who lived in east London during the blitz told me that the scariest thing with the doodlebugs was the silence prior to landing onto it's target. Once in a steep dive the fuel flow would cut off stopping the engine.
I did say in a comment on another video that you should have covered this. I didn't quite realise how many videos you'd made about the tube, and you'd already done this event ! Both my parents came from the East End. They were young children at the time this happened. Both could remember this event, and the hush up after the event. Very sad.
From a Yank that's lived in Washington D.C. (with its own underground rail service) there's always been something special about the Tube. It was very, very sad to hear of this tragedy. RIP to all those who lost their lives in this disaster.
It's quite a journey for the heart and soul to contemplate the memorial to the loss of so many children, among others, and then-just across the gardens-visit the museum that celebrates childhood.
A well-made video on a difficult topic, yet one which needs to be told. As others have said, it has a suitable and respectful ending. All keeping to your usual high standards.
Excellent summary of what was an awful event. I became ware of it when my dad moved from his digs in Hornsey to a new flat in Finsbury Park, which meant we took a different route to previously, involving changing at Mile End to get on the Central Line. This of course involved stopping at Bethnal Green, and my father conveyed this morbid tale to me. 😟 I think the fact that the age demographic of the victims was so young is perhaps what makes this that little bit more upsetting. I am glad there is a substantial memorial there now 💔👍
A sensitive and appropriate ending to this sad story
Yes, well done, Jago. This subject was not suitable for your usual jokiness - which we all usually enjoy - and your sensitivity and thoughtfulness in maintaining a more sombre and caring tone shone out. Thank you.
It's bothering me how high the mortality 173 ppl crushed by other people the force of flesh 173 I'll never recover from how high that is
@@davidw1518 the number is too damn high
Very sympathetically done in the memory of those lost on that fateful day.
Excellent but so sad
I grew up around Bethnal Green in the early 70s and had no idea about this until years later when I read about it - and then a few years ago there was the Channel 4 documentary 'Ghosts of the Underground' which has a chilling tale about this. This video brought a tear to my eye.
Hiting like feels wrong but you handled this in a factual and sensitive manner and it is your treatment and respect that I am liking. The silence at the end is very telling...
I feel like there needs to be a way to re-label "like" to be "Support" or "Respect" or similar for certain videos on somber topics.
@@FranNyan For certain comments, too.
My mother was a teenager living in Bethnal Green during the war and spent only a few nights down the underground at the beginning of the Blitz. She refused to go any more because it was so disgusting. The tragedy was not known fully at the time and she told me that rumours were rife as to the cause. By lunch time she realised that a few of the girls where she worked as a machinist had been killed. The empty sewing machines places haunted her more than most of her war time experiences.
Factual, informative, educational, and sensibly not entertaining. Another great video toned perfectly. Thanks Jago 👍
173 is way more than I expected
I can't even pretend to hype up the presentation its done well but the mortality rate us too high
3rd March 2023 will mark 80 years sinse the disaster. I hope that Tfl, LB Tower Hamlets and local charities and organisations can come together and organise a truly fitting commemorative event. It's the least that can be done to honour the poor victims of this terrible tragedy. A very moving video. Thanks, Jago.
Hear hear. ❤️
Tower Hamlets won't care, most of the residents are probably celebrating the deaths of infidels.
It took nearly 50 years just to get that tiny plaque above the entrance. By the time the staircase to heaven memoral opened in 2017 opened, vertually no survivors were allowed... a disgraceful situation that all the authorities - London Transport, the LCC, the GLC, the Borough of Bethnal Green and its sucessor Tower Hamlets - should all be ashamed of
@@mogznwaz they paid the artist 400k for that pile of shite lol
I lost my grandad in this disaster, he was 32. RIP Grandad!
RIP to all that lost their lives too.
😔🕊️
wait what..?
@@altymogo3781
Wait, what???
@@oiaintred1 how can a gradpa be 32
Oh I get it now sorry. My bad. He was 32 when he died right? 😢
I actually heard about this from my grandad. He was actually down there that night, luckily he and my great nan survived the disaster!
OMG...thank goodness - they were very lucky ❤️
Morning Jago. Not a jolly story but one that is well worth telling.
I have visited this memorial, and one of the saddest things about it, which was not mentioned in this video, is that it incorporates comments from survivors. One of these is from a woman whose younger sister was one of the victims. When she got home, her mother would not speak to her again, because she had not saved her sister.
😢 It was such a traumatic event that need not have happened, given there was no bombing at the time. But enduring air attacks for months was bound to create serious nervousness in people so any hint of an attack made them rush to the shelter. The rest you know from the video. RIP💐.
A visit at night would also have shown images of those named of the memorial projected onto the flat side of it ...a very ingenious and thoughtful addition to the memorial
damn... that's rough. grief can be so destructive
Best way to lose 2 children instead of 1... Dead seems to be always preferred than the living, the mom should have been happy to have at least 1 alive from the event.
Wow
The "Stairway" had about 110 family names by my count. That means many families lost multiple members and there were also probably injuries to others in the same family.
So not just the worst disaster, but extremely impactful on a relatively small number of families. To me that makes it even worse. I shudder to think of the impact on the local community.
On one of the bronze plaques seen in the video, I saw three sets of "Snr" and "Jr". And to see my own last name on there is also rather chilling, even though my family left Britain a couple centuries ago.
What a horrific loss of life. Thank you for telling their story so respectfully.
It was horrific
❤😊
Very sensitively handled. When I was still teaching (retired now) I used to refer to this event when talking about shelters. I wish that I had had this video then in order to enhance my student's understanding.
I am sure you did a sensitive and wise job even without Jago's video.
I worked at Bethnal Green in the late 80s early 90s as you left the station there was a plaque with the names of those that died. It was stark and hard-hitting, illustrating that families lost generations of their members.
Walking down the steps you feel how steep the incline is and as you descend that you can reach up and touch the top of the entrance tunnel as you walk through.
A very informative and sad addition to the channel, thank you
💐 RIP. Jago, the ending of this video brought me to tears. It is so moving and deeply respectful. Silence offers so much in this context.Thank you.
Me too.
Apparently, sounds of screaming (especially womens' voices) can still be heard (though it has been suggested that the noise is from surface traffic filtering down).
After discussing this tragedy, I noticed Jago ended the video without his usual spiel. That was in very good taste. It makes me suspect that he, unlike a lot of other creators, truly cares about what he produces.
The Kray twins were nearly killed in that crush and only just got out of it which makes you wonder how different things in London would later be without them.
Not so different perhaps, there's never a shortage of gangster psychopaths.
Urban myth
Silence at the end speaks volumes. Respect dude...
As a side note: the wood for the memorial came from a sunken freighter. I think it's teak; the architects didn't fancy chopping down forest and regarded farmed teak as not being of good enough quality. The freighter went down in the Irish sea during WW2 and the wood's still quite usable.
Nicely done, the silence at the end particularly poignant, thank you.
Thank you for doing this and handling it in such a respectful and sensitive manner!
Although well known about in the area, it wasn't until the 70s and 80s that this tragedy became more widely known. My Mum was in the Mile End station with my older brother and sister at the time. She also narrowly missed being the victim of a bomb that fell on a house in our street. They had just got in the new Anderson shelter in our back garden. The shelter later became a rockery and survived until they sold up in the late 70s. Could still be there for all I know..
True story..
Thanks JH.
My mother in Stafford had heard of it. She has no connection with anyone in London, but I remember when a TV documentary was broadcast about it in the 70s, she said she could remember it happening.
"Grandma loved being carried up the escalator into the naked light"
I liked that sign. It carries a message of hope.
The work as a whole (across the whole system) is entitled "You are deeper than what you think", by Laure Prouvost, April 2019.
I dont like it
It seems mildly incongruous to me, but then, civic art has that effect on me pretty generally. I think I'm missing a gene somewhere for appreciating it...
Very, very, good and sensitively presented. Your work has reached a higher standard. I sort of knew about this but not about the memorial. Thank you.
a sympathetic and touching memorial to this tragic loss of life. Thank you.
Thank you, Jago, I live but metres from this and it is a constant reminder of those who lost their lives. I am still stunned to this day that it took the organisers so long to reach their funding target and disappointed that they had to rely on public donations to complete it.
My god, that is such an incredible part of history. Incredibly well dealt with, I am impressed you managed to get your voice to stay even when delivering such tragically upsetting news.
An exgirlfriends nan told us that they couldn't fit her in this night so she was turned away. How lucky she was.
I was born in Bethnal Green in 1952. My mother who was 16 at the time of the disaster in 1943 told me that she had just got down to the platform when it happened. A narrow escape for both of us.
Thank you Jago My Mother was a teenager living in Victoria/Lambeth during the war so I have many memorises of stories at the knee That particular Story Is one of the Reasons That although I used the Underground for many years BUT I have never Lingered long And to this day at 67rs old panic in a Crowed
Let those who died at Bethnel Green rest in peace.🇵🇫
Indeed, R.I.P.
Im so hurt by the dact 173 people died in the most nonsensical unfair way i feel distraught
@@adonaiyah2196 Human crush accidents are some of the most horrifyingly preventable disasters there are. Several have happened as a result of fires, when people run back to the entrance they came in by, rather than the nearest fire exit, no matter how well signposted it is.
You presented this video very respectfully, as the subject deserves, thank you. My Grandfather was one of the policemen involved in the rescue operation.
Nicely done Jago. My Grandmother, Aunt and Mother were local residents, living in Globe Road. That fateful day they were making their way to the tube station to shelter when the AA rockets went off. As mentioned, the new rockets were experimental and secret, and the noise when they were fired panicked everyone. My Grandmother dragged my Aunt and my Mum (then aged 7 and 5) into the nearby church for shelter. Had she not done that they would almost certainly have been caught up in the disaster.
The second worst disaster on railway premises in Great Britain, exceeded only by the Quintinshill disaster of 1915. Ignored by most books on railway disasters, I only became aware of what happened at Bethnal Green when my old chief clerk mentioned that it was the 50th anniversary of the incident, and described in vivid detail what happened, he had been brought up in the area and was a teenager at the time. Some years later I passed through the station and to say that the place gave me the creeps is an understatement. According to "Rails Through the Clay" wooden hoardings were erected over this type of station entrance after the disaster, so that the lighting of stairs could be improved without falling foul of blackout regulations.
Very sensitive and sympathetic video. The silence at the end was just right.
My Dad an American GI during the war talked of having been in London during the bombings raids during is time in the UK. He mentioned the reaction when the sirens went off, to seek shelter quickly -- often in the Underground -- and often by following the crowd. I never expected to find myself doing that but did seven years ago I needed to run to the shelter when the sirens went off in a war zone. It is both hard to imagine and yet easy to imagine what happened at Bethnal Green -- 71 years later and mankind has not figured out how to do this to each other.
A tragic tale told with sufficient gravitas to underline the human tragedy. Well done Jago.
The sensitivity with which you handle the video is for all possible praise. The attention to detail and the respectful silence at the end is very touching. As always, fantastic work.
You’ve been excellent at knowing what to say. This tine, you were excellent at knowing both what to say and what not to say. This was informing and respectful of the sad events of that evening.
Very well made Jago. Great respect shown to those who passed
This video is a truly worthy memorial to the tragedy, along with the Stairway to Heaven itself. Not a word out of place, everything done with dignity and total respect for all those who lost their lives that sad day. Sir. I salute you.
This is the history of 'real' people. Very well and sensitively presented.
They had used the new “Z battery” which was a version of rocket unlike normal anti aircraft guns which were rounds and shells .The metal working firm G. A. Harvey and Co of Greenwich was given the contract to manufacture the rocket bodies, who were more used to making drain covers and radiators . There were a number of them sited around the South East of England.
Thank for making these videos. I live in the east end and have always knew how historically rich london is, yet given the busy life we have ive never really been able to explore much (even being born here). This channel brings the history to me and i can tell my friends about it. Appreciate it.
Only you Jago could have done this sad story justice . Thank you
Nicely done. Sensitive. I learned about this as a kid. It stuck in my mind.
Crowd surges with fatalities are well documented. Hillsborough has just been on the news.
In a hostel I worked at a couple of years ago, the fire regs specifically wanted a set clearance in the alleyway to allow a flow rate based on people moving at a certain rate. It was something like either 700 or 750mm.
Thank you Jago.
Did not know there were no hand rails given the width of the steps.
I suppose it was because that's the sort of thing that's typically only installed as a project reaches completion. A lot of fence railings and other such fittings had also been removed early in the War for recycling, although I think in practice much of it was never used and simply remained in storage.
Safety laws have improved dramatically since then, as tragedies have revealed a need for higher standards. In the 1940s, centre handrails weren't required on wide stairways. Today, laws require additional handrails at specific intervals of wide stairways.
@@OofusTwillip most safety rules are written in blood
A shopping centre near me only installed a centre handrail on a small staircase (about 8 steps) in the past couple of years. I remember suddenly noticing it.
This is a grim start to my day, but I thank you for educating me on something that I had noticed on the several visits to Bethnal Green via the station.
It's horrible
An excellent and sobering video. Your tone is exactly right, treating such a terrible event with the respect it deserves.
In David Long's wonderfully informative 'The Little Book Of The London Underground', there is a list of all the casualties, along with their ages. It's a very hard read, especially when there are several members of the same family listed. Most depressingly, are, of course, women, and young, often very young, children.
A very moving tribute to those who lost their lives that day. Thank you.
How many people in this video going in and out of the station even know about this tragic story? . Thank you Jago, you covered this story really well and sensitively 🙂
My neighbour was a young girl living in Bethnal Green at the time, and remembers when the disaster happened. She, like me, had no idea that any memorial had ever been built. When I saw it for myself, I took a photo of it. A few days later. We were talking, and I mentioned that I'd seen it, still not knowing that she had any connexion to the area. Fortunately, I still had the photo on my phone, so I could print her a copy.
To an ever shrinking group, this memorial is very important.
It’s mad to me that this is a living memory to some alive today, you’d only have to be 90 years old or so and from around this area to remember this when you were about 10.
A story well worth noting and done in the best way possible!
Well done on producing this video in such a sympathetic and thoughtful manner!
Very well done Sir. I knew of the disaster, but your measured and quietly passionate telling of the story made me weep.
Thank you for recounting the story of this tragedy in such a sensitive and informative way.
I'm stumped at how the stairs at the top of the memorial were constructed, since it looks very heavy, and doesn't appear to have any support except at one corner.
Not all killed in war are military personnel, I think this is a fitting tribute to the civilian causalities of an incident during a wartime event, for they should not be forgotten.......
This wasn't even caused by a "warlike act", such as a bomb hitting them.
I know another Underground station was hit, a water main was burst too, and some people drowned.
As a former resident of Bethnal Green, thankyou for bringing this story to everyone's attention. We should not forget what those generations who witnessed that war went through, amidst shortages and rationing, and loss of homes and family members. And the phrase they used? "Doesn't do to grumble". You could not have told it better, as the comments below attest.
Long before I enjoyed "learning and researching London history", the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster was one of the few 'stories' that stuck in my head for just how awful it was. When so many people are killed not through enemy bombing but through sheer accident and bad luck it makes it seem all the more harsh and "worse" (not meaning to sound too callous). It stuck in my head as it was always debated what exactly had occurred, with the confusion and even debate over the noise coming from the test firings in Victoria Park, and did leave a bad taste in the mouths of some of how the whole thing was 'hushed up' and not officially recognised for many years, even arguably after the war had ended. The wet slippery steps from rain, the lack of centre handrail and other factors made it a terrible accident, and reminds us that war can bring about so many terrible things, not just from the enemy but from sheer panic. Thankfully in more recent years it has finally been remembered and recognised more accordingly. Another good video and sympathetically done, JH.
There have since been reports of hauntings at Bethnal Green Station ever since - the most common being the sounds of women and children's cries being heard by railway employees after the station has closed for the night....
Very dignify ending with this meaningful silence. Thank you for your sensitivity. We need so much more of this these days...
I used to use that entrance/exit everyday.
The only memorial was a small bronze plaque attached to the wall.
There is a campaign that's been running for a few years for an appropriate memorial at Bethnal Green. A memorial not only to the people but the callousness of the Government of the time , initially delaying access to the Tube for shelter , and then dragging their feet on the construction of deep shelters for civilian population . A very sad story kept quiet at the time. Like the Flying exploding gas main stories of the early V2s. Well done with sensitivity Jago
This video keeps alive the memory of those who died so sadly. Lest we forget.
Fascinating yet tragic story, told beautifully with the usual Jago slant. No wonder your channel continues to grow....
Thank you for your kind and sensitive retelling of this sad story, xxx
Beautifully told with total dignity. Thank you sir.
A beautifully told story of such unimaginable tragedy. Well done, Jago.
A very well done piece handled with the sensitivity it deserved. While I knew of the disaster I didn't know about the other uses of the tube aside from shelter and Churchills bunker, an aircraft factory sounds very intriguing and a very clever use of space.
Beautiful and respectful video. I worked on the BG memorial history project that built the schools lesson pack and the memoryscape trail and we did a touring exhibition too. We interviewed all survivors and relatives of those who died - Bishopsgate Archives have all the oral history tapes of those interviews. The nurses had their doors knocked on and were told to keep quiet about the scale of it, and the church next door was turned into a morgue with all the bodies laid out for identification. Awful event. The community should have been told about the new rocket testing so they could expect a new sound. The government failed them. Anyway that's my local area I'm absolutely gutted that I missed you!! Not that I know what you look like haha
My family lived In Bethnal green for over a century. The legacy ended when my uncle Arthur passed away in 2008,aged 83. He was working as a messenger at the time of the disaster,doing his bit for the war effort,before he was old enough to join up. He was actually cycling past the tube station and heard a load of screaming going on ,but could not investigate,as he had a message to deliver! My mum who was 8 years younger and is now 88, remembers him coming home that night and telling them "something's going on down the tube "
In 2009, my mum and I was on a Mediterranean cruise and met a brother and sister around her age ,they clocked we had the same accents and told us they survived the disaster,as they were at the top and pulled to safety
Jago Once again you bring life to a story. I was alrady very much aware of this disaster. However as ever you succeed in turning a distant story into such a real event . I love how you suspend your usual quiet flipancy and irony to give proper respect and dignity to this horrible event.
Well done
Genuinely touching, respectful reporting. Thank you,
Thank you. Very sensitively done
Thank you, Jago, for your sensitive approach to a grim subject. I was aware of the disaster, but seeing the names on the memorial suggested to me that some of those who died may have been distant relations of mine. I shall have to do some more genealogical research on my East End ancestors.
There was a 1975 TV movie about the disaster called 'It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow' which was written by Bernard Kops. Sadly, it seems no copies of it survive.
Very sensitively done video.
Were there other similar disasters during the use of the Underground stations during WW2? I recall that there was a flooding of Parsons Green station during a raid that hit a water main.
It would be interesting to hear of others. The underground stations saved so many lives during the blitz. It’s all part of the rich history of the London tube.
I love your videos, I loved the tube when I lived in London for 8 yrs in the 1980s. I now live in rural Australia but your videos bring me back to the great days of my youth where I would travel every where by the tube. I had many adventures on the system! Oh I have many a funny story of what happened while travelling! You see it all on the tube!
A great channel, Jago. I always enjoy your dry humour and great knowledge.
Your videos are very informational, I feel bad for the 173 people being crushed there, so sad
I suggest doing the Balham tube disaster for its anniversary on 14th October, famously shown in the film Atonement.
Jago has already covered that subject: ua-cam.com/video/wSOOZNmi9eA/v-deo.html
Many handrails and fences were removed for the metal required for the war effort
In the 1940s, the law didn't requre centre handrails. Today, central handrails are mandated by law.
The station had not yet opened for passenger service.
Silence at the end is poignantly appropriate 🤍
MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE🤍
Beautifully done. Informative, respectful and touching all at once, you should be very proud.
My mother who lived in east London during the blitz told me that the scariest thing with the doodlebugs was the silence prior to landing onto it's target. Once in a steep dive the fuel flow would cut off stopping the engine.
very interesting and moving. One of your best to date!
Done with respect and dignity, thank you.
Thank you for sharing this tragic story in a respectful and appropriate manner.
I lived in bethnal green and love bethnal green, I love your videos but this one is special thanks jago
Respectfully done, very sad, thank you for telling us the tale so well.🤔💙
I did say in a comment on another video that you should have covered this. I didn't quite realise how many videos you'd made about the tube, and you'd already done this event !
Both my parents came from the East End. They were young children at the time this happened. Both could remember this event, and the hush up after the event. Very sad.
From a Yank that's lived in Washington D.C. (with its own underground rail service) there's always been something special about the Tube. It was very, very sad to hear of this tragedy. RIP to all those who lost their lives in this disaster.
Such a strange story. You wouldn't imagine that going down some stairs could be so dangerous!
Very well done Jago for a sensitive piece. Fitting tribute from you.
It's quite a journey for the heart and soul to contemplate the memorial to the loss of so many children, among others, and then-just across the gardens-visit the museum that celebrates childhood.
Very good. I remember that a TV company made a docudrama of this in the 1970s called It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow.
Beautiful monument 😔
Thank you for the warm respectful thoughts. You did it very well.
A well-made video on a difficult topic, yet one which needs to be told. As others have said, it has a suitable and respectful ending. All keeping to your usual high standards.
Excellent summary of what was an awful event. I became ware of it when my dad moved from his digs in Hornsey to a new flat in Finsbury Park, which meant we took a different route to previously, involving changing at Mile End to get on the Central Line. This of course involved stopping at Bethnal Green, and my father conveyed this morbid tale to me. 😟
I think the fact that the age demographic of the victims was so young is perhaps what makes this that little bit more upsetting. I am glad there is a substantial memorial there now 💔👍
A very nice way to do the ending.
Thank you for respect.