St James's Residences, Brewer Street W1

26 October 1940

By Kaitlyn Hanson

At around noon on 26 October 1940, a high explosive bomb struck the red brick St James’s Residences (1883-86) on Brewer Street W1. In a sense it was lucky that the bomb struck when it did, as many residents were away at the time. However, the bomb was still highly destructive. It resulted in a total of forty-five casualties: five dead, twenty ambulance cases, and twenty First Aid Post cases.

A note at the bottom of the ARP incident report gave an approximate total of casualties. At the time of the incident report, at least one person was still believed trapped in the wreckage, with the possibility of others. Rescue workers called to the scene spent six hours removing the living from the debris.

Parts of the five storey St James’s Residences were demolished, including the shops located below them. The top of a house on the other side of the street and other shops and buildings in the area were also damaged.

Additionally, the stair-case approach was blown away from “a number of flats not demolished”, and telephone kiosks in the immediate vicinity sustained damage.