Plaque

(lost) Prince of Wales WW2 bomb - lost

Inscription

Paradise Memorial Garden was created to commemorate the 30 people who lost their lives on Sunday 13th October 1940 when the Prince of Wales Public House, which stood on this site, was destroyed by enemy action during the second world war.

{Around the rim of the plaque:}
The pulsing engine stopped right overheard.
Four minutes to the crash. Slowly we counted;
One girl cried, "Oh God! dear God!"
The tension grew to bursting point; the blast
Shattered the windows. We breathed again.

from Doodlebugs by Grace Griffiths, 1944

Our image comes from Paradise Memorial Garden.

SarfLondonDunc informs that the plaque's absence was noticed  by someone on 18 Nov 2009, but we don't know when it was installed.

Site: Prince of Wales WW2 bomb (2 memorials)

SW9, Clapham Road, 294

From Paradise Memorial Garden: "According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database, 32 people died at 294 Clapham Road on 13 October 1940. The dead included five husband-and-wife couples and one mother-and-daughter. Judging from the names of the casualties, The Prince of Wales may have been an Irish pub or at least popular with the Irish community." PMG goes on to list the names of the dead with some information about each one.

The black stone plaque replaced the bronze one what it was stolen.

What do you think of the large 1950s development that has replaced the pub and a long stretch of Clapham Road? Low rise with pillared arcades set back around a green area, with pedestrian access to the street behind - all nicely done. Just a pity there are so many closed shops and parked cars.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Prince of Wales WW2 bomb - lost

Subjects commemorated i

Prince of Wales pub, Stockwell

The Prince of Wales public house was at 294 Clapham Road on the corner of Par...

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World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Prince of Wales WW2 bomb - lost

Created by i

Grace Griffiths

Her 1944 poem Doodlebugs was included in an audio compilation entitled 'The B...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Prince of Wales WW2 bomb - lost

Also at this site i

Prince of Wales WW2 bomb

Prince of Wales WW2 bomb

We think this plaque was installed c.2012, to replace the lost one. We are pu...

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