History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

Today we are commemorating Battle of Britain Day which occurred 80 years ago on 15 September 1940 when the Luftwaffe launched a massive attack on London hoping to draw out and destroy the RAF fighters. Although War was declared on 3 September 1939 and there was an air raid warning, the Germans did not bomb London during the so called ‘phoney war’ until a year later when the Blitz began on 7 September 1940. Here we look at two war heroes from Kilburn and West Hampstead. Gordon Wedlock Gordon Victor Wedlock was born in December 1918 when his parents William and Edith were living at 64 Gascony Avenue in Kilburn. About 1926 they moved to 9 Homestead Park near Gladstone Park in Willesden. Gordon was a pupil at Dudden Hill School and then won a scholarship to Kilburn Grammar School. He joined the Electricity Department of Willesden Council in 1936, working under the aptly named Mr Spark and the following year, signed up for the RAF Volunteer Reserve. This meant many of his evenings and most ...