Author Topic: Three Rabbits Pub  (Read 14014 times)

Offline Pete_Wood

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #27 on: Friday 02 November 12 13:35 GMT (UK) »
Which one is your relative? Once I know I can supply more information.

I am guessing it was Robert Hancock.

According to the Police report, he was found dead at the scene - and taken to Manor Park Cemetery ARP Mortuary (a temporary site). His address was stated to be 5 Washington Avenue E12. His aged was stated to be 45

Many of those who were injured were taken to Aldersbrook Hospital, though some were also taken to East Ham Memorial Hospital in Shrewsbury Road.

Robert Hancock's next door neighbour, Edwin Herbert Hull (Number 7 Washington Avenue), aged 70, was injured in the leg, in 1944, in another (non-related) bomb raid.

Offline janet62

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #28 on: Friday 02 November 12 17:50 GMT (UK) »
Yes thats him but he was never in his 40's  he was born 1883 and  serverd in canadian  army during WW1  and became a Canadian before moving back to england  i never knew him as he died 2 years before I was born thankyou very much for your help
forrest Ireland London
Dorling   suffolk essex
Easy cambridgeshire
Hancock devon or Cornwall   london
kitson ireland lancashire
shuttleworth essex

Offline Pete_Wood

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #29 on: Friday 02 November 12 18:25 GMT (UK) »
You have to realise that, in the mortuary (following a raid) the Police guessed the age of the deceased, based on appearance. If the body was claimed, the authorities relied on someone (a relative/friend) to fill in any details which they had been unable to solve.

Some of the WW2 mortuary records survive, in the local records offices. The surviving paperwork includes possessions found on the body, and which undertaker was going to carry out the burial. It will also tell you who claimed the body.

Offline janet62

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #30 on: Friday 02 November 12 19:25 GMT (UK) »
I think it was a lady who called herself Mrs Hancock but was not.  also know he was a vain man so quess he lowered his age to lady friend
forrest Ireland London
Dorling   suffolk essex
Easy cambridgeshire
Hancock devon or Cornwall   london
kitson ireland lancashire
shuttleworth essex


Offline Orontes

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #31 on: Saturday 03 November 12 00:19 GMT (UK) »
I lived opposite but one house from that bombed site.  We played snowballs in it.  I left there for Australia when I was 12 going on 13.  the owners of the Fish and Chip shop lived next door. We left January 1957, so was still a wreck at that stage. next time I saw it was about April 1989 and it was a Pram shop on the site and the three rabbits appeared to be the Charrington Pub.  I went again in 1996, but mainly to the City of London Cemetary where my mum is buried.

Offline PJ 1850

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #32 on: Tuesday 28 October 25 10:26 GMT (UK) »
My late mother was a nurse at East Ham Memorial Hospital at the time the Three Rabbits Pub was bombed. She recalls the survivors being taken to hospital and accounts of others being drowned in the basement shelter.
The building appears to have survived without significant damage and bomb site maps do not show one landing on or close to the pub although bombs did land in the general area. This supports the view that a bomb damaged a water main or sewer causing the basement shelter to flood.
A word of caution. Bomb maps, while generally informative are not 100 percent accurate. They were probably prepared in the days or weeks following a raid but the priority would have been to rescue people and make damaged buildings safe. In the meantime, there would have been more raids and some doubt as to exactly where bombs had landed.

Offline PJ 1850

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Re: Three Rabbits Pub
« Reply #33 on: Tuesday 28 October 25 10:56 GMT (UK) »
To add some more context to the wartime events, while survivors from the Rabbits were taken to East Ham Memorial Hospital, the hospital itself was also subject to air raids. It was probably not targeted but in those days, bombs did not have guidance mechanisms and could miss a target by a long distance. Whole areas were bombed and the East End of London and Docklands were badly hit.

On one occasion, my late mother and other nurses were working in the morgue and had to take shelter under the slabs on which the dead were being laid out. In another raid, a bomb landed on the X-Ray department. A window frame was blown onto the bed in her room. Fortunately she was not in it at the time. She was moved to Birmingham after the raid.

For anyone looking at the area now to work out where bombs may have landed, I can offer this advice. In general, buildings built after WW1 were repaired or rebuilt to their original design or something similar. Buildings built before WW1 were often rebuilt to a more modern style with few if any original features remaining. Some WW2 bomb sites remained until the 1960's or even the 1970's before being reused.

As in my earlier post, bomb maps give a good overall impression of what happened but are not precise. I know of some bomb sites not being shown.