{"id":3407,"date":"2017-01-19T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/?p=3407"},"modified":"2017-01-19T11:02:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T11:02:00","slug":"100th-anniversary-of-the-silvertown-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/2017\/01\/19\/100th-anniversary-of-the-silvertown-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"100th Anniversary of the Silvertown Explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today marks the 100th<\/sup> anniversary of the Silvetown Explosion, where, on the evening of January 19th<\/sup> 1917, 50 tonnes of trinitrotoluene\u00a0exploded after efforts to extinguish a fire in one of the factory melt pots failed. The explosion killed 73 people, injured more than 400 and instantly destroyed an estimated 900 properties with a further 60,000 having sustained some damage.<\/p>\n

\"Florence<\/a><\/p>\n

Florence Hanbury, first Library Assistant<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 
\nIn 1917, the London School of Tropical Medicine was located in the Albert Dock Seamen\u2019s Hospital in the London Docklands and as a result, the explosion damaged the School. Florence Hanbury, the School\u2019s first library assistant, noted in her diary \u2018The Silvertown explosion shattered the windows in the Printing Room, but did not damage the Library\u2019. Hanbury\u2019s description of the damage suggests the School sustained minimal damage, yet in Sir Philip Manson-Bahr\u2019s memoir of the School\u2019s history, he writes:<\/p>\n

\u2018All the windows were broken and the floors were littered with powdered glass. A large number of casualties were carried into the Hospital and School by rescue workers until every available space was full to capacity. Nurses and medical staff alike worked like Trojans and earned universal praise. A squad, led by Major C.H. Barber, I.M.S., who was himself a patient at the time, rushed out to the scene of the disaster and rendered heroic services.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Silvertown<\/a><\/p>\n

Silvertown after the explosion, 1917<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Mackay, 1912<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Manson-Bahr also wrote that Robert Mackay<\/a>, one of the School\u2019s first Laboratory Assistant who worked at the school for nearly 30 years, was at the School at the time of the explosion, an event that, \u2018shook him greatly\u2019.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the School did not record any casualties and, due largely in part to time of the explosion, the number of casualties were relatively low as there were few people were working in the area.<\/p>\n

Two years after the explosion, the School eventually moved to the Seamen\u2019s Hospital in Endsleigh Gardens and later to its current site in Keppel Street in 1929.
\n <\/p>\n

\"London<\/a><\/p>\n

London School of Tropical Medicine, Endsleigh Gardens, c. 1920s<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information or if you have any queries, please contact the LSHTM Archives at: archives@lshtm.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Feature image: Courtesy of the Museum of London.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Silvetown Explosion, where, on the evening of January…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":480,"featured_media":2417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27649],"tags":[44779,52820,27719,17922,44825,18903,52942,44796,14017,44794,44830],"class_list":["post-3407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-archives","tag-endsleigh-gardens","tag-first-world-war","tag-keppel-street","tag-laboratory-assistant","tag-library","tag-library-assistant","tag-london-school-of-tropical-medicine","tag-lshtm","tag-royal-albert-dock","tag-silvertown","odd"],"yoast_head":"\n100th Anniversary of the Silvertown Explosion - Library, Archive & Open Research Services blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/2017\/01\/19\/100th-anniversary-of-the-silvertown-explosion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"100th Anniversary of the Silvertown Explosion - 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