Vauxhall Bridge Road/Denison House

10 November 1940

By Amy Heaney

Two high explosive bombs hit here, one at 272 and 274 Vauxhall Bridge Road and the other at Denison House, four houses to the north, at 8:54pm on 10 November 1940. The Rochester Row and Gerald Road police responded first to 272 and 274, which were smaller buildings and which had suffered more extensive damage. The road was partially blocked by scattered debris and two craters in the road itself.

Although casualties were thought to be trapped at both locations, even more pressing at each were the water and gas mains damaged in the blasts. Damaged gas mains caught fire quickly and almost immediately the basement of Denison House began to flood. Power and water to the street were cut off in order to prevent the flooding from reaching electrical cables and endangering any trapped victims. Coal gas lines were not so easily stopped and rescuers reported that the smell of gas continually increased in Denison House throughout the night.

An hour after the police arrived at the scene and with no contact from any trapped persons, the rescue party’s leader declared 272 and 274 free of casualties. However, two were reported missing in Denison House. One of them was rescued from the rubble in the early hours of 11 November, shortly before the incident was declared closed.