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Bombing of the Cinderella Dancing Club, Putney, 7 November 1943

6/14/2023

2 Comments

 
Personal recollections of air attacks bring home the devastation they caused. Jon Mills has shared the story of how his mother narrowly missed being killed on the evening of 7 November, 1943.

Aged 23 at the time, Jon’s mother was on her way to the Cinderella Dancing Club in Putney that evening when the air raid alert sounded. During the day she worked in Wandsworth Town Hall issuing ration books and identity cards but was also scheduled for part-time work in the Civil Defence Control Room and was due to be on duty that night if the siren sounded. She turned around and reported for duty, an act that probably saved her life.

The Cinderella Dancing Club was located on the corner of Putney High Street and Putney Bridge Road. It is thought a Focke-Wulf FW-190 A-4 (on a so-called ‘tip-and-run’ raid) carrying a single 250kg high-explosive bomb was possibly aiming for Putney Bridge but released the bomb late and hit the dancehall at 2102 hours.
​
The dancehall, a milk bar below the dance floor, shops and the surrounding streets were busy and the bomb devastated the area. The aftermath of the attack left 81 dead and nearly 250 injured – the largest loss of life in a single incident in the Putney area during the war. The Civil Defence services were on site quickly and a local depot that contained several large ambulances relayed the injured to several local hospitals.
Press photo of damage to the Cinderella Dancing Club, Putney, 7 November 1943
Press photo of damage to the Cinderella Dancing Club, Putney, 7 November 1943
John Hinde's colour photo of an incident officer at the Putney bombing
John Hinde's colour photo of an incident officer at the Putney bombing
The Emirs Feisal and Khalid of Saudi Arabia visit the scene of the attack in Putney
The Emirs Feisal and Khalid of Saudi Arabia visit the scene of the attack in Putney
2 Comments
James Molloy
2/10/2024 20:12:37

My Brother, Sister, and me, we’re at the bus stop just down from the dance hall, the sky lit up with a flare, at this moment the bus a(630 ) arrived we all boarded it and just after it left the bus stop it started to shake wildly we found out next day the Dance Hall had been bombed, , a couple of minutes earlier I might not be here to post this 😱🤷‍♂️

Reply
Rudolf Williams link
2/10/2025 10:43:19

My partner's great aunt was Kelly Moore. On the night of the raid she was 17 years old and had asked her mother whether she could go to the pictures. She was given permission. While Kelly was out , the air raid siren went off and the family sheltered in their friends cellar. Kelly did not come home. The next morning the family were told that Kelly had been killed.

Kelly had not gone to the pictures, but decided, instead, to go to the Cinderella Dance Hall, and was there when the bomb struck.

Kelly's body was placed in a body bag alongside the other victims. As the bodies were being removed, someone heard Kelly asking for water and for her Mum, from within the body bag! Kelly was rushed to hospital. She had lost an eye, a breast, and had bad injuries to one side of her body and to her legs. Years later she would have leg pains and pieces of shrapnel would re-emerge. However, she made a full recovery. She was told that she would never have children - she had three! She lived a full and happy life and passed away in 2011.

This account is paraphrased from notes/recollections made by her mother, shortly before her mother's passing.

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  • Uniforms
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