Ernest Hyde

Ernest Hyde

Ernest W Hyde lost his life in the line of duty alongside his colleagues Arthur Wenborne, Walter Hart , Joan Ridd and Francis Wingfield after a bomb hit their sub-station on the 1st of November 1940. His Red Plaque was presented on the 1st of September 2019.

Ernest and his fellow firefighters had been using Ricardo Street School in Poplar, East London, as a fire sub-station during the Second World War. After the school received a direct hit from a high-explosive bomb on the 1st of November 1940, twelve firefighters were trapped under the debris. Five died as a result of their injuries, with thirty-eight-year-old Ernest passing away at the scene.

The unsung heroes who died at Ricardo Street School were part of World War Two’s Auxiliary Fire Service – a nationwide brigade made up of tens of thousands of civilian volunteers. The group of twelve firefighters trapped under debris at Ricardo Street notably included two women, as World War Two saw a large intake of women firefighters into what we believe to have previously been an exclusively male role. Many such school premises in London, whose pupils had been evacuated to the relative safety of the countryside, had been requisitioned by the Auxiliary Fire Service. In this case, Ricardo Street School became known as Station 24Z and was under the control of Brunswick Road Fire Station, in C District of the London Fire Brigade.

In London, men and women worked in cramped and rat-infested sub-stations described as ‘deplorable’, lacking adequate facilities for cooking and sleeping. The conditions firefighters lived in were thrown into even sharper relief when Ernest and his colleagues lost their lives while bravely protecting London from fire. Today, their shared Red Plaque can be found at Lansbury Lawrence Primary School, which was built on the former site of the bomb-struck Ricardo Street School.

AFS Fireman Ernest Wilfred Hyde lived very close by in Ettrick Street.

Below are memories added by those who knew Walter Hart or had a story that they wish to share with you. If you have a tribute for Walter Hart that you wish to add, please include your memory below.

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Photo credits: Fire Brigade Union

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