Munitions disaster victims remembered 100 years on

A memorial service to commemorate 13 people who died in an explosion at a munitions factory is taking place 100 years on from the disaster.

Twelve young women and a man were killed when fire ripped through their hut on marshes near Slade Green, south-east London, on 18 February 1924.

Relatives of most of the victims are set to attend the service along with other dignitaries.

It will be held at St Augustine’s Church in Slade Green from 15:00 GMT.

On the morning of the disaster, 20 girls and women and a man were breaking down Verey lights – cartridge flares used for signalling and lighting at night – in a hut belonging to the Slade Green Filling Factory.

Witnesses reported seeing a bright flash before an explosion ripped through the building.

Most of the female victims, who were aged between 16 and 24 and all lived locally, died after they became trapped inside.

Another, 17-year-old Edna Allen, made it out but died in hospital that night from her injuries.

The factory foreman, Edward Jones, 29, from Forest Hill, also died when he was overcome by the smoke and flames as he tried to help one of the girl’s escape from out of the hut window.

The memorial service has been organised by Mike Smith, whose aunt Amelia was among the dead.

In a previous appeal to find relatives of the victims, he told the BBC he wanted them to “be recognised for the sacrifice they made”.

“If they had died in the trenches it would have been a big deal. Because they died dismantling explosives, it doesn’t seem to be so heroic but I don’t see it like that,” he explained.

Relatives of those who were killed are set to attend the service along with the families of survivors, the Bishop of Rochester, the mayor of Bexley and local MP Sir David Evennett.

The Slade Green disaster victims

Seven of the victims are buried in the same plot in Erith Cemetery

• Alice Sweeny, 16, of St Francis Road, Erith
• Edna Allen, 17, of Alexandra Road, Erith
• Alice Harvey, 17, of Arthur Street, Erith
• Alice Craddock, 18, of Arthur Street, Erith
• Ethel Pullen, 18, of Bexley Road, Erith
• Stella Huntley, 19, of Oxford Terrace, Erith
• Amelia Smith (also known as Polly), 19, of Powell Street, Erith
• Dorothy Sturtivent, 22, of Manor Road, Erith
• Irene Turtle, 22, of West Street, Erith
• Edith Lamb, 23, of Upper Road, Belvedere
• Gladys Herbert, 23, of Friday Road, Erith (it had been her first day in the job)
• Elizabeth Dalton, 24, of Lewis Road, Bexleyheath
• Edward Jones, 29, of Dalmain Road, Forest Hill

Seven of the victims are buried beneath the memorial

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