Children and teachers remembered 80 years on

It will never be known whether pilot Heinz Schuman knew it was a school he was bombing. The theory goes that he may have thought it was some sort of factory because it was several stories high, writes Yann Tear.

But perhaps he deliberately went for civilian infrastructure in retaliation for RAF raids on Berlin three days earlier, as demanded by a vengeful Hitler.

Either way, Sandhurst Primary School in Minard Road, Catford, which opened in 1904. was flattened on that Wednesday lunchtime.

It was January 20, 1943 – an event the rebuilt school never forgets and marked this year with a special 80th anniversary service.

Some 44 people died as a result of the 500kg bomb dropped at 12.30pm.

That tally includes 32 children who died that day and six more who later died from their injuries in hospital.

Six members of staff also perished and there were 60 injured souls.

Many were trapped under rubble for hours as emergency services and volunteers did their best to help survivors.

Schuman was in a squadron of 28 Focke-Wulf bombers which took off from occupied northern France to carry out the raid, accompanied by Messerschmitt fighters.

There was no warning. No air raid siren had sounded by the time the German planes arrived. Many children were having their lunch and the attack destroyed the area of the school where they were eating.

Witness reports suggest the attacking planes first flew past the school and then bombed it on a second run.

Another plane is alleged to have also strafed the playground and local streets.

Most of the victims were residents and lived within a mile of the school.

The tragic event was felt by the community for many years and still remembered by residents today.

In the same raid four barrage balloon sites were destroyed in Lewisham, a large gas holder was set alight, and a power station in Deptford suffered three direct hits.

The bomb killed 24 pupils and two teachers in the dining room.

Five more children were killed on a staircase and nine in second floor classrooms.

The blast also destroyed the staff room, killing three teachers, and another was killed in a science room.

Survivors said the noise of the approaching plane caused many to rush to the window and they saw a plane flying so low that they could make out the pilot’s goggles.

Two of them, Mary Burch and Brenda Ward, give their testimonies on the school’s history website – Mary describing the moment she saw her brother for the last time and Brenda describing the terror of being under a tonne of bricks before finally being released.

The event was national news. And it horrified an already war-weary country for being a seemingly gratuitous act of violence against defenceless children.

The school recently held a morning of remembrance, with a service at St Andrew’s Church, Sandhurst Road, followed by pupils presenting an exhibition they have made about the bombing.

The morning ended with a visit to Hither Green Cemetery to lay flowers at the memorial – a place where most of the victims were buried together.

Residents, survivors of the bombing and relatives of the victims were in attendance.

The school’s headteacher, Rebecca Dove, said: “The events of January 20, 80 years ago had such an enormous impact on our school community.

“It is important that we continue to remember this event – not only to honour those who died, but to teach our pupils to respect the memories of those who survived, and about this important aspect of the school’s and British history.”

The school has a commemorative window at the entrance and a memorial garden in the corner of the playground.

 

Picture: Rescue squads at Sandhurst School Picture: Lewisham council archives