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London is seen as a prime target and is on high alert for such an attack.

The Silvertown Explosion | Books & the City

However, this was not due to enemy action, even though it took place during a World War — it was home grown and totally avoidable. One of the main industries in Silvertown at the time was the Brunner Mond chemical factory, which produced soda crystals and caustic soda. However the caustic soda plant had been closed down in and was standing idle.

This was despite the fact that the plant was located in a heavily populated area, which also had other volatile chemical and refining industries, a point stressed by the Brunner Mond directors who were opposed to the plans. The government thought that the production of TNT was safe as long as the purification process to be undertaken here was kept separate from the manufacture of raw TNT. Consequently the processes did not have to comply with the regulations of the Explosives Act. Production started in September on a hour basis, employing three shifts.

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The protracted battles of trench warfare were consuming vast quantities of ammunition and lives , while making little tactical advance. The memorial to the Silvertown explosion. It is believed that this was caused by a fire in the melt pot room.

The reason for the fire breaking out was not established, as the witnesses who raised the alarm were killed in the explosion. It should not have been unexpected though. Only in the previous month, the plant had been visited by a government inspector, whose report stated that.

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In particular he reported that there were no precautions in place against friction sparks. The explosion was so severe that it destroyed the factory, other local factories, the local fire station which was opposite the factory and had only opened in and damaged thousands of homes. The explosion could be heard miles away. Sixty-nine people were killed in the explosion with four more subsequently dying from their injuries.

The Silvertown Explosion

Another ninety-eight people were seriously injured and more than nine hundred suffered minor injuries. He stayed at his post to warn people of the dangers of explosion, but later lost his life in hospital from the injuries he received.

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The loss of life in the Silvertown disaster would be treated as a major scandal today, but unfortunately then it was just another statistic among the countless lives lost already in the Great War and those still to die before peace came in With no radio, television, internet or social media in those days, it was far easier for the government to conceal bad news. There was postal and press censorship, designed to prevent contact with the enemy and to ensure that the conflict was presented to the public in a pro-Allied light.

This censorship is illustrated by using the usual research routes.

To see how news was reported at the time of an event, one can search newspaper archives such as the Times Digital Archive log in with your library card number. However, searching for Silvertown explosion or Silvertown disaster brings no results. Neither does a similar search in The Illustrated London News. Lisa rated it really liked it Oct 19, Kate Koger rated it really liked it Jan 07, Ron Willoughby rated it did not like it May 31, Claudio added it May 21, Mattster marked it as to-read Apr 27, Taylor Blumenberg added it Jul 17, Leisha Graham marked it as to-read Jun 06, Tsuki Sama marked it as to-read May 05, Org marked it as to-read Nov 15, Matthew marked it as to-read May 09, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.

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He writes regularly for newspapers and magazines and the author of Shutdown , a book about the effects of shipyard closures on Teesside. Books by John Withington. Trivia About London's Disaster No trivia or quizzes yet.