Stainer St Arch Bombing, Southwark, London, UK
Posted by: 
Team Sieni
N 51° 30.222 W 000° 05.166
30U E 702225 N 5709866
A plaque commemorating a bombing during an air raid in World War II, in which 68 people died and 175 were injured.
Waymark Code: WM63PP
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/28/2009
Views: 5
From the Southwark News website [1]
"One of the worst nights was on February 17 1941, when there were heavy raids across London, with 34 incidents occurring in Southwark. That night, 300 people were taking shelter at the Stainer Street arch near London Bridge station. The roadway under the arches had been converted into a shelter containing a medical aid post. A pair of ten tonne steel doors closed each end of the shelter.
At 10.25pm a high explosive bomb burst into the shelter and exploded in the medical aid post. The steel doors were hurled into the shelter and the water and hydraulic mains burst. In the horror that followed, 68 bodies were recovered and 175 people were injured. Many of the dead were squashed by the steel doors and were beyond recognition. The bodies of Dr Lesley Probyn and her Red Cross nurses Ethel Little and Rosina Hartley at the Medical Aid Post were never found."
The plaque originally had an incorrect date of 1940 on it, but this was corrected early in 2009 [4].
The plaque reads
London Borough of Southwark
Stainer Street Arch Bombing
On the night of 17th February 1941 a bomb fell onto the arch where people were sheltering from an air raid. 68 died and 175 were injured.
Voted by the People
Further reading
Living in the Blitz Southwark News.
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Defending the East End Portcities London. A web page with a picture of the aftermath of the bomb.
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A Bermondsey Boys War People's War Stories on the BBC website. Personal memories of Kenneth Haines. Mentions the Stainer Street Arch.
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London SE1 Community Website Discussion on correction of the date.