Picrture: Mike BrookeIt depicts the disaster of the South Hallsville School bombing in 1940 which killed a many as 600 men, women and children who were sheltering there.An investigative wartime journalist looking into the tragedy later met a people’s champion, Mickey Davis, who was running a public air-raid shelter that historians view as the forerunner to the post-war welfare state.Tonight’s programme starts with families having to be evacuated when the bomb lands in Martindale Road on the first night of the Blitz on September 7, 1940, but fails to go off.They are sent “for safety” to the school from where they are to be evacuated to the country as promised. If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Newham Recorder. He includes a whole chapter on Mickey’s shelter in his wartime book The programme researchers traced Calder’s grandson, university lecturer Gideon Calder, 45, and Mickey Davis’s nephew, east London journalist Mike Brooke, who were both interviewed for the documentary in May.Gideon said after the filming: “My grandfather looked at what people were doing in their everyday lives and people like Mickey trying to feed people and run the air-raid shelters.“Something emerged to keep society going. Hallsville Junior School is so-named because Hallsville is the previous name of Canning Town, in east London. Our industry faces testing times, which is why we're asking for your support. View location on Google Maps . Please see our Judy Gregory grew up knowing not to ask questions about the unspeakable tragedy that had befallen her family some years before.On September 10, 1940, an entire branch of her family tree was killed by a Luftwaffe bomb at South Hallsville School, in London’s Canning Town, during the Blitz. Stan Harris and Norman Pirie were boys in 1940, but their memories of that fateful night are crystal clear in the programme.Sandra Belchamber’s grandparents were caught up in the chaos, but explains their fortuitous decision to head for Kent.However, Judy Gregory’s grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousins put their faith in the authorities and wait for evacuation buses that don’t arrive. I was recently asked to be admin for a new facebook group; Hallsville School Cover-Up 10th September 1940 aka Black Saturday. order back issues and use the historic Daily Express We still live largely in the world created on the back of the Second World War—more caring, where something like the NHS is absolutely vital.”East London and the docks bore the nightly brunt of the Blitz for nine months from September, 1940, to May, 1941. Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter for Blitz: The Bombs That Changed Britain examines the detail of Luftwaffe’s bombing campaignRevealed: Queen and David Attenborough are BEST friendsThe Murder of Becky Watts: What time does the ITV documentary start?Judy Gregory's family members were killed in London’s Canning Town, during the Blitz in 1940Family showing Blitz spirit in a sandbag air-raid shelter In 1940, the South Hallsville School Disaster was said to have killed 77 people in World War 2, but after many suspicions and many disagreements, this paper can finally expose the truth about how many had actually been killed? It helped pave the way for the political changes that happened after the war.”The series’ makers found evidence of other bombs that had a lasting impact, explains Tim. Every contribution will help us continue to produce local journalism that makes a measurable difference to our community. Hallsville Primary School Radland Road Canning Town Newham Greater London E16 1LN England OS Grid Ref: TQ 40189 81182 Denomination: Undefined. Nov 22, 2016 - 600 people were killed when Hallsville Junior School was bombed in 1940, but the… Official casualty figure for South Hallsville was 77—but it turned out decades later that closer to 600 people may have died. newspaper archive. He doesn’t just see a community hero doing great things in time of peril, but the outline of what we later come to call the welfare state.”Tonight’s episode follows the bomb that fell on Martindale Road that failed to explode. Although the official death toll at South Hallsville School was 77, the government covered up the true number, and new estimates put the figure closer to 600. Those who were fortunate enough to survive were then left in a tragic position of losing some if not all of their family members. It’s just wiped out.”Judy’s tragic tale is one of many heart-rending personal stories told in Blitz: The Bombs That Changed Britain, a new four-part BBC2 documentary series about the effect of German bombs dropped on Britain’s ports and industrial centres during the Second World War.In the space of just over eight months, more than 450,000 bombs rained down on British soil.