John Church was my grandad and worked as a fireman at India Gutta Rubber Percha company just before WW2.
When the docks were bombed he was called to firefighting duties and on 7th September was absent from home for three days. No one knew if he was alive or dead as he was away on firefighting duties. The whole of the street where he lived (Winchester Street) was bombed and my dad tells me that at the time he was at the public baths in Oriental Road, Silvertown. On his quick return to home the houses were all ablaze with the windows smashing each side of the street from the intensity of the heat. He (my dad) only managed to rescue one photograph and the family dog before he had to flee to his sister in Custom House.
My grandad eventually returned to find the remaining members of the family he lived with at the time (my dad, his elder siter and younger brother). When he did return dad tells me that he was blackened from smoke, soot and fire damage.
