NINETEEN STEPS, by Millie Bobby Brown with Kathleen McGurlOn the evening of Wednesday, March 3, 1943, 173 men, women and children lost their lives descending the steps — 19 of them — to an underground air raid shelter in East London.
It was the largest civilian tragedy of the war and yet it was a mystery how it happened.
However, after all that East London had endured during the Blitz, to be blamed for panicking at this point was intolerable and unfair.
The residents of Bethnal Green demanded an inquiry.
I first learned of the Bethnal Green tube station disaster almost 25 years ago when I was living in London.
Persons:
Millie Bobby Brown, Kathleen McGurl, Bethnal Green, Bethnal
Organizations:
panicking, Bethnal, British Library, London Stationery Office
Locations:
East London, London, Bethnal