City of Hamm Coat Of Arms On Fire Disaster Memorial - Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 47.564 W 001° 45.243
30U E 582074 N 5961181
Hamm’s Coat of Arms are being used here on a memorial marker donated by Bradford’s sister city after a disastrous fire at Bradford’s football club.
Waymark Code: WMMHF4
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/22/2014
Views: 1
The memorial
At the time of the fire Bradford City's main stand was a wooden one that had been built in 1911. The steps had open risers and over the years much rubbish had accumulated underneath the stand. Two safety reports had criticised the condition of the stands.
The club made plans to replace the stand, and this actually coincided with their best season since 1937 and in their penultimate game of the season had accumulated enough points to gain promotion to the 2nd Division.
Their last game of the season was intended to be a celebration and before the game Bradford-born captain Peter Jackson was presented with the league trophy.
Sadly the celebrations turned into disaster and 40 minutes after the start of the match a fire did start underneath the seats and the fire spread incredibly rapidly and engulfed the whole of the stand including the roof.
54 Bradford supporters died and two supporters of the visiting team, Lincoln. In addition 265 supporters were injured.
Further details of both the club and the disaster can be found on this Wikipedia web page.
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Present at the ground were dignitaries from Bradford’s twin city, Hamm in Germany. As a result of this the news reached Germany and a memorial was presented to Bradford and placed outside the City Hall.
BRADFORD FIRE DISASTER MEMORIAL
THIS MEMORIAL IS A GIFT TO THE PEOPLE OF BRADFORD
FROM THE PEOPLE OF HAMM, BRADFORD'S TWIN CITY IN
GERMANY AND COMMEMORATES THE TRAGIC FIRE OF
MAY 11th 1985, AT BRADFORD CITY FOOTBALL GROUND IN
WHICH 56 PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES.
THE NAMES OF THE LOST, SET WITHIN THE BROKEN
STADIUM, EXTEND OUT TO TOUCH THE CLOAKS OF THE
THREE FIGURES SYMBOLISING THE ETERNAL BOND BETWEEN
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
Sculptor Joachim Reisner 1986.
The memorial also has the Bradford Metropolitan Borough Coat of Arms and Hamm’s coat of arms.
The Hamm Coat of Arms
According to Wikipedia “The coat of arms has been in use in its present form for about 750 years. It shows the markish chessboard ("märkischen Schachbalken") in red and silver on a golden field. Originally it was the founders' coat of arms, i. e. the Counts of Mark. The chessboard and the colours are often displayed in the coats of arms of further towns founded by that family line. Similarly, the colours of the city are red and white.”
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