2009
TQ4080 : Memorial to Victims of London's Biggest Explosion
taken 15 years ago, near to London City Airport, Newham, England
Memorial to Victims of London's Biggest Explosion
This memorial is at the entrance to Minoco Wharf in Silvertown. There used to be a TNT explosives factory here, belonging to Brunner-Mond & Co. For the previous 2 years (in order to support the war effort) the works had carried out the purification of TNT, an inherently dangerous activity about which little was known.
On 19th January 1917 there was a fire at the factory, which led to a huge explosion. 73 people were killed, hundreds injured and there was damage to properties for miles around. The fire burned for days. Because Britain was at war with Germany, full details of the explosion were suppressed at the time. It remains London's biggest ever explosion.
The memorial was erected to commemorate the victims, and company employees who died in World Wars 1 and 2.
This photo is linked from:
Automatic Clusters:
· London [166]
·
Image classification
(about):
Supplemental image
This page has been
viewed about
232 times