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First World War Bomb Damage to Messrs Allen &
Hanbury’s Works, Bethnal Green |
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On the night of the Whitsum Bank Holiday 19th/20th May 1918, the Allen &
Hanbury’s Works at Bethnal Green was hit by two 100Kg bombs which totally
destroyed the south-west corner of the factory. The German air-raid was the
last and largest on London during the First World War. Thirty-four Gotha
aircraft had taken off from Belgium at five minute intervals. Each bomber
had a particular London target.
The Gotha that attacked Bethnal Green was the eighth plane in the raid. It had dropped it's first bomb at Poplar at 11.07 and then flown on to Bethnal Green to drop it's other bombs. Besides the two bombs that fell on Allen & Hanbury’s Works, a 50Kg bomb fell in nearby Corfield Street, destroying a number of houses. In the air-raid, three people were killed and seventeen injured. According to a Government report, the Gotha returned safely to Belgium. The Works were rebuilt in 1922 on a much larger scale. In the Second World War the Works again received some bomb damage. Allen & Hanbury, a medicine and pharmacy company, had moved to Bethnal Green in April 1874. It became a Limited Liability Company in 1893. In the late 1960s, the Company decided to move from Bethnal Green. Today, the Allen & Hanbury’s buildings are used as small factory units. The old works can be seen from the train as it passes Bethnal Green mainline station. |
