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Bombing Brum

Best, Barbara 22/11/1940 12 Grove Avenue, Katie Road
Best, Joseph 22/11/1940 12 Grove Avenue, Katie Road
Best, Phyllis Margaret 28 22/11/1940 12 Grove Avenue, Katie Road 23/11/1940 died at 12 Grove Avenue, Katie Road
Best, Robert 22/11/1940 12 Grove Avenue, Katie Road
Dunn, Martha 22/11/1940 11 Grove Avenue, Katie Road, Selly Oak
Painter, Ellen 59 23/11/1940 21 Grove Avenue, Katie Road , Selly Oak 23/11/1940 died at 21 Grove Avenue, Katie Road, Selly Oak
Painter, Florence 22/11/1940 22 Grove Crescent, Katie Road, Selly Oak
Painter, Gertrude 22/11/1940 22 Grove Crescent, Katie Road, Selly Oak
Stringer, Dorothy 22/11/1940 12 Grove Avenue, Katie Road these are the people who were injured or killed at this location ..may they rest in peace
How very sad for the families concerned. From the end of 1939 to the beginning of 1944 I lived with my parents in Lottie Road. I can't recall the number of the house but it was not far from Elliot Road. I remember lots of noise and the terrible drone of the bombers overhead. As a child aged 2 the events of Katie Road passed me by, but my Mother was sufficiently concerned at one stage to take me to her parents house in South Gloucestershire. Unfortunately, while we there Adolf decided to bomb Bristol Aeroplane Company, but, unfortunately, some of the bombs landed in my Grandparent's village. After this my Mother decided we should return to Sellie Oak on the basis that it was better to be killed in your own bed rather than somebody else's.
 
On 25 October 1940 in a packed Carlton Cinema, Taunton Road, an air raid warning flashed on the screen but as people were thinking about heading for shelter a bomb crashed through the roof to explode just in front of the screen sadly killing 19 and injuring 20 more. They are named and remembered on the Barra website https://database.birminghamairraids.co.uk/

Photos of the damage in the cinema.
View attachment 111734 View attachment 111735
In 2007, a memorial to the 19 victims was unveiled – a grass area with a curved path representing the auditorium, a straight brick path for the screen and 19 slabs of slate in memory of each individual who lost their life on that tragic night.
View attachment 111736

There is a brief mention in another thread
On 25 October 1940 in a packed Carlton Cinema, Taunton Road, an air raid warning flashed on the screen but as people were thinking about heading for shelter a bomb crashed through the roof to explode just in front of the screen sadly killing 19 and injuring 20 more. They are named and remembered on the Barra website https://database.birminghamairraids.co.uk/

Photos of the damage in the cinema.
View attachment 111734 View attachment 111735
In 2007, a memorial to the 19 victims was unveiled – a grass area with a curved path representing the auditorium, a straight brick path for the screen and 19 slabs of slate in memory of each individual who lost their life on that tragic night.
View attachment 111736

There is a brief mention in another thread about the incident giving the name of the film which they were watching.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/bombing-brum.21044/page-5#post-505156

about the incident giving the name of the film which they were watching.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/bombing-brum.21044/page-5#post-505156

My Father in Law was injured in the Carlton cinema bombing
He lost part of his jaw and was in hospital for some years.
We did not realise the bombing was in 1940 we both thought it was around 1942
What really kind of got to me is the 25th of October is my birthday

I can never recall my father in law talking about not sure if he even told his children about it.
 
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