Sandhurst School bombed; 611 Sqn Pilot Interviews

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• published: 21 Jun 2008
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At 12.30 pm, on Wednesday 20th January 1943, Sandhurst School was bombed. According to eye witnesses the pilot waved to the children in the playground as he flew at rooftop height over the school. Half the building collapsed into aheap of rubble killing 38 children and six teachers. More than 60 children and staff were injured. For two days people picked through the rubble digging out the casualties. Eye Witness accounts: "65 years ago last week my old primary school, Sandhurst School in Catford, was shockingly bombed by a German fighter plane, eyewitnesses including my grandmother used to say that the plane was flying so low that you could see the evil in the pilot's eyes. When I was there in the 1970's the air-raid sirens were still situated around the corner from the school. On January 20th, 1943 just after lunch had began the then familair sound of sirens sounded. Some kids made their way to the shelter, a bricked up classroom on the 2nd floor, others ignored it and continued chatting with friends and eating their sandwiches. These were young school children, blissfully unaware that a fellow human being would want them dead. The pilot flew his FW190 Fighter-Bomber down low over Downham Way and the nearby playing fields around midday aimlessly firing bullets at gawping and ducking people below. The pilot then turned his premeditated intentions to his major target, the school situated between Minard and Ardgowan Roads. Flying at roof level the German pilot flew down the top of Ardgowan Road where my Grandmother, pregnant with my Mum, was like her neighbours drawn to the window of their house to investigate the sound of roaring engines. My late Nan told us the story many times of the determined look in the face of a killer. Other eye witnesses said that the Nazi pilot actually waved to children in the playground before he dropped a 1,100lb on their young innocent heads. Half of the school building collapsed into a heap of rubble killing 38 children and six teachers, most not even having the decency of dying instantly, just suffocating under a collapsed building. More than 60 children and staff were injured, many being plucked from the debris by hundreds of rescuers. For two days people picked through the devastation digging out the casualties. The dead were buried in a mass grave at the nearby Hither Green Cemetery." "Although only a small child at the time in 1943, one of my vivid memories of the war was a day in January when my mother and I heard the sound of a low aircraft. We went out into the road and saw an aircraft flying at roof level. We could see into the cockpit and even after all these years I can see the pilot with his helmet and goggles. He then went in a straight line to Sandhurst School where he dropped his bomb killing many children and teachers, many of whom were in the dining hall when the bomb exploded. The is a memorial garden in the school grounds with the names of those who lost their lives inscribed on individual paving stones" "Remember, remember — yes, I remember how it happened. That day, January 20th, 1943, though now far away, will never be forgotten. To me, as child of twelve, it was the most terrible day of my life. Yet I think I learned a lot on that day about how brave and self-sacrificing people can be... the whirr and screech of a diving aeroplane right above us. My friend, Edna, and myself clung together, our hearts thumping very rapidly. "It's alright," we tried to console ourselves. "It's only one of our fighters." Then two girls rushed into the shelter — "The plane," they said, "it's got black crosses on it!" We all looked at each other, the silence being shattered by a tremendous thud which shook everything and everyone in that shelter."