A Hundred Years Ago Bombs Fell on Kilburn

This is a short piece following our recent story about Zeppelins (scroll down to see the previous story).

During WWI when the Germans stopped their Zeppelin raids in 1917, they continued to attack London using Gotha heavy bombers.

German Gotha Bomber

In the raid on the 28/29 January 1918, Gotha GV 938/16 approaching from the north, commenced its attack shortly before 10.00pm and dropped three bombs along Belsize Road close to the railway line. Two people were killed and two others were injured. 118 houses were damaged. The Princess of Wales pub at No.121 Abbey Road on the corner with Belsize Road, (today the site of the Lillie Langtry pub), was wrecked. Robert Hill, the landlord since 1911, survived the attack. When the pub was repaired he continued there for another 10 years, until his son took over.

Princess of Wales pub in the 1890s (Marianne Colloms)

Three more bombs from the Gotha landed in St George’s Road (today’s Priory Terrace), Mortimer Road and Greville Road, damaging a total of seven houses.

On its homeward flight across Essex, the bomber was intercepted by two Sopwith Camel fighters of 44 Squadron. These were piloted by Capt. George Hackwith and Lt. Charles ‘Sandy’ Banks. Despite heavy fire from the Gotha, they shot the bomber down and it crashed in a ball of flame near a farmer’s house in Wickford.

The bodies of the three crewmen were recovered from the burnt-out wreckage of the aircraft. They were Lieutenant Friedrich von Thomsen (commander and navigator), the pilot Karl Ziegler, and the gunner Walter Heiden. The three young men were given a military funeral on 2 February. This was the first victory in combat between aircraft at night, and the two pilots, Hackwith and Banks, were awarded the Military Cross by King George V.

A Second Attack

Kilburn was hit again in a Gotha raid on the night of 19/20 May 1918. Three bombs were dropped about midnight, and a 300kg bomb destroyed the Carlton Tavern in Carlton Vale, killing Arthur Stribling the publican and his seven-year son. His wife Elizabeth and sister-in-law Florence were rescued from the debris and although injured, they survived.

Carlton Tavern about 1913, showing Arthur Stribling and his family.

Heading home across Kent, GV 979/16 first came under attack from Major Frederick Sowrey, both his guns jammed but he wounded the pilot. Just before the bomber reached the coast, it was shot down by a Bristol Fighter of No. 141 Squadron from Biggin Hill, crewed by Lieutenants Turner and Barwise. The Gotha crashed between Frinsted and Harrietsham in Kent. The three-man crew was pilot Albrecht Sachtler, observer Joachim Flathow and gunner Hermann Tasche. Only the gunner survived and was taken prisoner. Turner and Barwise received the Distinguished Flying Cross.

People looking at the wreckage of the Gotha near Harrietsham

The Carlton Tavern was rebuilt by Charrington and Co. in 1920/21 at a cost of £11,610 (worth about £490,000 today). Its sudden illegal demolition in April 2015 by Ori Calif, the developer and owner of CLTX, was widely reported. After a public enquiry, Westminster City Council ordered the pub must be rebuilt, to the original design.

Carlton Tavern just before demolition, 2015

In August 2018 it was believed work had started. There was a high hoarding surrounding the site, with a giant notice which said, ‘Carlton Tavern: Coming Back Soon’. But today, it is difficult to see what progress has been made.

Kilburn National Club

This popular music venue was at 234 Kilburn High Road, on the corner of Messina Avenue. Many famous musicians including Johnny Cash and David Bowie played there. We look at the original building which was the Grange Cinema, and what happened when the National closed and was taken over by two different church groups. Grange Cinema The Grange was a large mansion standing in grounds of nine and a half acres and with a frontage to Kilburn High Road. It was the home of Ada Peters the widow of a wealthy coach builder who made coaches for Queen Victoria . Following Ada ’s death in 1910, the property was sold. The new owner was Oswald Stoll, a major name in the entertainment world who had already built the London Coliseum in St Martin ’s Lane, near Leicester Square . Stoll wanted to erect another Coliseum theatre in Kilburn. In fact, progress overtook him and instead of a theatre, the 2,028 seat Grange cinema opened on 30 July 1914 . This remained the biggest cinema in Kilburn until th

Smith’s Crisps

This is the story of how Frank Smith and his friend Jim Viney, began in a small way in Cricklewood and built the large and successful company of Smith’s Crisps. Early years Frank was born in 1875, in Hackney. His parents had left their native Suffolk by the mid-1860s for London, where his father ran a fruiterer and florist business. By 1881 the family were living over their corner shop at 128 Stoke Newington High Street, moving to Kingsland Road by 1891. Frank started working when he was 10-years old and went with his father to Covent Garden each morning to buy produce for their shop. Frank married Jessie Minnie Ramplin in Southwark in 1902. The couple and their six-year old daughter Laura were living in Mona Road Deptford in 1911, when Frank gave his occupation as ‘commercial traveller, confectionery’. Soon after this he went to work for a wholesale grocer by the name of Carter, in Smithfield. Carter had a side-line making potato crisps and Frank saw great potential in the product and

Clive Donner, film director

Clive Donner was born in the Priory Nursing Home at 43 Priory Road West Hampstead, in January 1926. He grew up in 31 Peter Avenue, Willesden Green, where his parents Alex and Deborah Donner, lived for most of their lives. Alex was a concert violinist and Deborah ran a dress shop. Clive attended Gladstone Park junior school and Kilburn Grammar school. He became interested in film when he accompanied his father to a studio recording session. While at Kilburn Polytechnic he made an 8mm film about a boys’ sports club. In 1942 he was working as a shipping clerk when his father who was recording the music for The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), asked Michael Powell the director, if he could find a job for Clive at Denham Studios. After several rejections he got a job as a junior assistant editor for the Sydney Box film On Approval (1944). He gained experience and formed a close friendship with Fergus McDonell, who later edited several of Donner’s films. Clive wa

History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

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