Bethnal Green Memorial
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Conceived and designed by Harry Paticas, principal of Arboreal Architecture, Engineered by The Morton Partnership, and fabricated and installed by The Green Oak Carpentry Company, with the assistance of Solutions in Wood who carried out the CNC work to the Teak, this memorial to the victims of a bombing raid of WWII was opened by the mayor of London Sadiq Khan in 2018. It was the largest civilian disaster of WWII.
On March 3rd 1943 the air raid sirens sounded. In a tragic accident 173 men, women and children were crushed to death in the entrance to the underground. It took hours to remove and identify the bodies.
The bench seen in the foreground was made from Burma Teak salvaged from the merchant freighter the SS Pegu, sunk by a U boat in WWI.
In spite of the scale of the disaster all that remained to tell the tale was a small brass plaque at the entrance to the underground. Those affected were sworn to silence by the War Office and told not to say anything at the risk of ‘giving Mr Hitler a good day’.
Called the ‘Stairway to Heaven’, plaques let into the concrete of the arm tell the harrowing stories of the survivors on the night of the disaster.
The names of all the victims are engraved into the surface of the timber in a specially designed script called ‘Bethnal Green’.
The structure is made from 150mm square sections of Java grown FSC Teak, finger jointed and bonded together with PRF adhesive. The laminated beams themselves are then bonded together to form the ‘big box’. The structure was pre-assembled off site before transportation to London for lifting into place.
One ‘light cone’ for every victim is cut into the roof of the structure and dapples the ground below when the sun is overhead. The structure had to be installed overnight to prevent disruption to the operation of the underground.
Harry Paticas, devoted many, many hours over ten years to delivering this remarkable project; and The Green Oak Carpentry Company are pleased to have been involved in assisting the realisation of this beautiful structure.
“"Everyone is very impressed with the finished result and I thought I would just take the opportunity of belatedly giving my thanks to you and your team for a job very well done. I have submitted the bridge for a Civic Society award for next year and have every expectation of its success."
P White, Northholt & Greenford Countryside Park Manager
“"Just to say that it looks fabulous, and all who survey it are wonder-struck. Best wishes and many thanks to you all."
Simon, National Trust
“"Thanks for the excellent job which has just been completed on the Oak Frame extension to the above property. Not only is the quality of the work faultless, it is a true work of art, which will bring endless enjoyment to me and my wife. The end result has surpassed our wildest expectations."
Ray Nicolaides
“"Thank you for the frame that you have just finished at Rogate. It was a miserable wet day, yesterday and John and team carried on regardless. We are delighted with the overall look and also the mouldings to the members. As usual, the frame was millimetre accurate and will be easy to take forward to complete the building."
Bob, Trembath Associates
“"I wanted to drop you a quick note to show my appreciation for your guys efforts today; they were a pleasure to have around the house and worked hard to get the frame up today."
Paul, Contracts Manager