Plaque commemorating the Bethnal Green Station disaster.

Plaque at Bethnal Green Station.

Repro ID: H3234

Description: On 3 March 1943, 173 people lost their lives in the worst civilian tragedy of the war at Bethnal Green Tube station. When the air-raid siren sounded hundreds of people ran to the station shelter where 500 people were already sheltering. In just ten minutes, 1500 people had entered the station. The sheer volume of people trying to get in was overwhelming. The crowd at the entrance, who were waiting to get in, panicked and surged forward. There was only one narrow entrance to Bethnal Green Tube and there were no crush barriers. Inside, a woman near the bottom of the first staircase slipped on the badly-lit steps. A man tripped over her, others slipped, and within 15 seconds the stairs were blocked with fallen people. The pressure of the crowd trying to push into the shelter prevented rescuers from helping.

Creator: Cleve Severin

Date: 2002

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London