Remembrance Sunday: Lest we forget …
the night Slade Green was saved.
On Sunday 9th November we will gather around the war memorial outside the church to remember those that gave their lives, and perhaps also those that risked their lives and suffered in other ways, in various wars.
Perhaps becoming forgotten (and so I hope to remind you), is the fact that Slade Green was a target during the Second World War, made so by its importance for maintaining transport through the Rail Repair Depot, and for the local armaments industry. (The church itself was substantially damaged in a bombing raid). One night in particular stands out …
On the night of 16th/17th April 1941, the area was under attack from incendiary bombs, which aimed to create havoc by causing more fires than the area could cope with. Defending the area were local volunteers, mainly drawn from the Depot. That evening two Home Guardsmen (Charlie Sayers and Fred Deadman) realised that six wagons loaded with bombs were on fire. The wagons were in the siding that runs towards Slade Green station next to houses in Oak Road (A similar siding is there now – have a look from the station footbridge to get an idea of just how close to housing this was).
The Home Guard unit, under Sergeant Alf Reardon, started to attempt to deal with the problem. Deadman went to get an engine to try to pull the coaches away, but found the current had been switched off.
Meanwhile Sayers and Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) volunteer Bobby Jeeves used a dustbin lid as a shield from the now-exploding AA shells and succeeded in unhooking and moving away one wagon. With the wagons alight, the Home Guard could do no more, but the AFS and volunteer Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Warden Peter Renton were now dealing with the fires. As Jeeves and Renton moved forward with their hose, flying shrapnel hit and killed Renton. The fire was finally put out a little before 1 a.m.
In all 27 houses were damaged in Oak Road and Howbury Lane, and ARP Warden Peter Renton lost his life, but the damage could have been far, far worse, as it was discovered in the morning that the wagon that had been separated from the others contained naval depth charges, the explosion from which would have been massive.
Local men C.F. Sturgeon, W.J. Love, H.C Constable, G. Law and S. Boswell all received National Commendations for their actions that night; Alf Reardon was to later receive a British Empire Medal for his overall contribution to the Home Guard; and Bobby Jeeves was awarded the George Medal. Sadly he never lived to receive it, as he joined the Navy and he died when his boat was torpedoed in 1943.
As part of the ceremonies on 9th November, the names on the war memorial will be read out. Remember all of them, but if none are actually known to you, perhaps think in particular of R.Jeeves and P.Renton when their names are read out.
Also that night? Can you help?
In another incident a team of local volunteers separated five burning ammunition wagons from a goods train.
E. Newham, A.V. Newham and H.J. Gardner received British Empire Medals for driving an engine with the burning wagons to where it could be extinguished under a water crane. B. Codd, H.W. Bullard and J.H. Rubie each received National Commendations for the part they played. Two servicemen, E.R. Sims and W.T. Collins, also assisted at the incident.
Local historians are however unsure of a couple of things – first, by the description it’s believed this took place in North End sidings, and simply because it is described as being on a night of heavy incendiary bombing, it’s thought to be the same night as the other incident. However, it would be nice to know this for certain (one way or another).
If anyone has any information on this, please email info at sladegreen dot org.
Information in this article was drawn from A.W. Deller’s ‘An Illustrated History of Slade Green Depot: From Steam to Networker’.