The Tragedy of Spriggs Oak, Epping

In Journal nos. 33 and 34 we recounted the story of the use of Hill Hall, Theydon Mount as a maternity hospital during WW2. In September 1939 the staff, patients and hospital equipment were moved lock stock and barrel from the East End Maternity Hospital, which was located at Commercial Road, Stepney, in the heart of the East End.

The East End Maternity Hospital.

Local Authorities ‘in safe areas’ were required to provide hostels which would provide short-term accomodation for expectant mothers, prior to their confinement when they would be transferred to the nearest maternity hospital.

Epping Urban District Council was offered a house, Spriggs Oak, in Palmers Hill. The house was owned by Councillor William Edward Trent, who moved his family out and went to live in Devon. Spriggs Oak was furnished and provided accomodation for around 30-35 persons. A paid resident cook/superintendent was in charge of the hostel. From September 1939 until April 1940 there had been some 472 admissions to Hill Hall and some 350 babies had been delivered.

Spriggs Oak, Epping

On the 21st September 1940 a magnetic parachute mine had fallen in the grounds of Hill Hall. It had buried itself in the soft mud without exploding, just a few yards in front of the wall, near the iron entrance gates.

The 70 staff, mothers and babies were evacuated as a precaution and taken to St Margaret’s hospital and Writtle Park Maternity Home, near Chelmsford.

The Navy who were responsible for parachute mines attended , but the defusing of the mine proved difficult and the operation went on for 6 days. Eventually it was decided that it was not possible to de-fuse it and it ws detonated in a controlled explosion. However the house suffered considerable damage as a resut. The Ministry of Health inspected the premises and decided that Hill Hall could no longer be used as a maternity hospital, and the Eat End Maternity Hospital was moved to Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.

In the days after the incident at Hill Hall, evacuated expectant women were still arriving in Epping and were billeted at Spriggs Oak prior to confinement. Local women were also allowed to use the hostel. The women were usually sent to St. Margaret’s Hospital to have their babies, but it appears that some actually gave birth at Spriggs Oak. It is likely that these women and others, had begun labour before they could be taken to the hospital.

Spriggs Oak was run by a Superintendent, who was responsible for the administration of the hostel and the control of the staff and the residents. A small laundry was provided for the expectant mothers to wash their own clothes, and if they were fit and able, they were expected to assist with the cleaning and cooking in the hostel. A Charwoman was employed to attend to the cleaning and work that could not be carried out by the mothers. She was paid the sum of l shilling per hour, but did not work for more than two days a week. The mothers were charged 1/6d per day to cover food and shelter, which they had to pay one week in advance to the Superintendent. If they could not pay this amount they had to approach the Ministry of Labour to obtain assistance.

Miss L.C. Hart was the appointed Liaison Officer of the Epping Urban District Council Evacuation Committee, which was responsible for the hostel, and from time to time she visited the house to make sure that everything was running smoothly.

To the evacuated women, Spriggs Oak, with its large garden and comfortable surroundings, must have seemed a world away from the poor areas of the East End. It must have also seemed a lot safer, especially after the weeks of heavy bombing that had occurred in that part of the capital. However there had been recent incidents in Epping that must have brought the war back home. Bombs had fallen in the town on the 18th September; two days later some bombs fell, but did not explode at the gasworks in Bower Hill. More bombs fell in fields at Bury Lane on the 4th October; about an hour later a high
explosive bomb caused damage to the roof of the Infants School and to the Women’s Institute in St. John‘s Road. Here there were three casualties who received minor injuries, and approximately forty-five
evacuees, who had arrived in the town a few days beforehand and were using the school as a rest centre, were taken to the school air-raid shelter for safety. Luckily in all these incidents both injuries and damage to property were relatively minor.

Wednesday 9‘" October was a cloudy, overcast day. In the early hours there had been a couple of incidents in the Epping area; bombs had fallen at Epping Green and Theydon Bois, but there had been little damage and no casualties. During the daylight hours there had been a few raids on London and other areas of the south-east, but things had been quiet in Epping. At Spriggs Oak, some of the mothers had decided to give themselves a treat by paying a visit to the cinema. In the early evening they left the hostel, made their way down Palmers Hill and along the High Street to the Empire Cinema. There they would have seen Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in "Strange Cargo”, and "The Farmers Daughter" starring Martha Raye and Charles Ruggles. The rest of the mothers who remained behind probably spent that autumn evening playing cards, reading, listening to the radio, or knitting clothes for their soon-to-be born babies.

At 7.57 pm. that evening, the air-raid siren, which was on the roof of the police station, sounded its baleful wanting like it had done so many times in recent weeks. There were no air raid shelters in Spriggs Oak, nor were there any public ones nearby. It is not known what procedures those inside the hostel were instructed to follow during an air raid. There probably was a cellar, and it is likely that the mothers and staff would have made their way to this for safety. It is also possible that no one thought that they were in any danger and carried on with their normal activities.

Outside the hostel there were a few people about, making their way home through the blackout to the safety of their shelters, if they had one. A few cars were on the road, travelling up or down Palmers Hill with covered headlights. There were a number of Civil Defence Personnel about, including ARP Wardens, hurrying up Palmers Hill making their way to Ivy Lodge, the Civil Defence Headquarters, to report for duty. As they went they might have made an occasional nervous glance up to the sky to see if they could see or hear a German plane nearby.

Walter Osborne was walking home from the town with a friend when the siren sounded. Walter was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers, but this was his night off. He lived in James Street and he and his friend were making their way along the High Street and were heading towards the junction of Palmers Hill and Lindsey Street. Suddenly, they heard a noise that was familiar to them both:

“As we hurried along we heard the whistling sound of a bomb, it sounded close. On the corner of Lindsay Street there was a container that held sand for use on the roads and pavements in icy weather. Behind it was a ditch and as soon as we heard the bomb we threw ourselves into the ditch. Suddenly there was a huge explosion nearby and the ground shock as we lay there.”

'There had in fact been more than one bomb; the first had dropped, but did not explode, a few hundred yards away at Stonards Hill, in the second field on the north-east side of the road. This had left a "small mound" two feet high. Another was reported to have fallen in the Maltings Lane area. The third bomb, dropped at 8.05 pm. eight minutes after the siren had first sounded, hit Spriggs Oak. It hit the side of the house that faced Maltings Lane, the exact part of the house where the staff and expectant mothers were taking shelter. This section was totally demolished. The air was filled with dust and debris; flames lit up the darkness. The electricity supply had been cut off and a gas main had ruptured, escaping gas ridding to the shock and confusion. Somewhere buried in the rubble and what remained of the house, were twenty-four women.

The Civil Defence Headquarters at Ivy Lodge had received a preliminary report from the scene within seven minutes of the third bomb exploding. Essex County Control at Chelmsford, responsible for the organisation of Civil Defence in No 4 Eastern Region, was immediately informed. The report made it clear that many casualties were expected and many were trapped. Less than six minutes after receiving the report, County Control ordered that two ambulances and one First Aid Party be dispatched to the scene. St. Margaret‘s Emergency Hospital was readied to receive the injured.

Walter Osborne and his friend climbed out of the ditch and made their way to the house. They were shocked to see that the bomb had hit Spriggs Oak. They saw that the house had been badly damaged; the whole of one side had been blown out. There were already AR and Rescue Services on the scene. The two shocked youngsters realised that there was nothing that they could do, and they made their way home.

"We knew that the house was used for expectant mothers. of all the places the bomb could have fallen, all the field: around where it would not have caused any damage, but it hit Spriggs Oak. It could not have been much worse. ”

Local Wardens, police, members of the Auxiliary Fire Service and other Civil Defence Personnel had arrived to help with the search and rescue effort. Some shocked members of the public also came to help. One of them was Millicent Stevens, a parlour maid at the Vicarage in Hartland Road, who had seen the bomb hit the house. She ran from the Vicarage to a nearby ARP Warden Post and informed the staff there of the situation. Then with amazing courage, calmness and little thought of her own personal safety, she went to the scene to help with the rescue and recovery of the victims trapped inside.

At 9.12 pm. Essex County Control reported to Regional Control, Cambridge that at least twelve people had been seriously injured. All arrangements had been made for their accommodation at St. Margaret's Hospital. Six minutes later Essex County Control instructed another Rescue Party to attend the incident.

By 9.45 pm a report stated that two high explosive bombs had made a direct hit on the house, although this was never confirmed. It was established that there had been twenty-four women in the house, but
only twelve of them had been accounted for. As the rescue continued, more survivors were pulled from the wreckage. shocked. upset and covered in blood and dust. The First Aid Party attempted to help, but the injuries were so serious there was little that they could do. The unfortunate women had to be taken straight to St. Margaret’s Emergency Hospital.

At St. Margaret‘s Hospital the Red Cross manned a First Aid Post, This had been set-up in one of the hospital buildings at the beginning of the war. Attached to this post was 20 year-old Joyce Gowland (later Hollingsworth). Joyce lived in Station Road, and she had received a telephone call that evening instructing her to report to the post immediately. Some of the women injured at Spriggs Oak began to arrive at the hospital; some went to the First Aid Post. Many of the Doctors, some of them quite young and inexperienced were shocked by the injuries to the pregnant women, and Joyce recalled that all of the medical staff found the experience very emotional and upsetting.

One of the injured women seen by Joyce had managed to stagger all the way to the hospital, despite having her arm almost severed.

“There was very little bleeding and the woman was not surprisingly in deep shock; but she remained calm and courageous. Luckily there was no sign of the baby arriving. I remember seeing her again a week later. She was sitting up in bed knitting a jumper for her husband, supporting one knitting needle against her body with the stump of her amputated arm. "

Some of the women had similar terrible injuries, but the ones who were making the loudest cries were the ones who were not so badly injured, but had begun premature labour. Two of these women were taken to the Maternity Ward, and both gave birth a few hours later. Louisa Nelson, age 38 from Stepney, had her child at 12.25 am, while Christina Deacon, aged just 18, of Manor Park, had hers an hour later.

Back at Spriggs Oak, the explosion had blown a large amount of debris onto the road, and Palmers Hill had been partially blocked. As the rescue work continued the debris was gradually cleared making it easier for ambulances and other rescue vehicles to get to the scene.

By 10.15 pm. eighteen of the twenty-four women in the house had been found and were being treated in hospital; three more were known to have died, while another three remained unaccounted for.

It was around this time that Essex County Control at Chelmsford received a report from Epping Police and this also stated that two bombs had made a direct hit on the house.

By the early hours of the next morning, the bodies of five of the women had been removed from the rubble and taken to the hospital mortuary. Two of the women that had been receiving treatment at the
hospital had died; there were fourteen with serious injuries, two more with minor injuries. One woman was still missing, buried beneath the rubble. There was no longer any hope of finding her alive. The rescuers, dazed, emotional and tired, returned home. Many like Millicent Stevens were covered in blood and dust. Their minds were full of the horrible things they had witnessed and sleep proved difficult.

As dawn broke, the Rescue party and other Civil Defence personnel returned to the scene to continue the Search for the one remaining body. As more of the rubble and debris was removed, someone discovered what they thought was an unexploded bomb in the garden. The area was evacuated and the object was examined by the military. After a short delay it was confirmed that it was not a bomb and the search could continue. Eventually, the last body was located and removed from the scene.

In total, eight women died following the incident at Spriggs Oak. The six who died in the house were:

May Banks, age 30, North Street, Romford. Wife of Sapper. L. Banks, Royal Engineers.

Violet Irene Buckle, age 19, of Balham. Wife of Len Buckle, and daughter of George Victor Rodwell, both of the same address.

Ellen Campbell, age 24, of Barnardo Street, Stepney. Wife of D. Campbell.

Rose Rcvcnski, age 34, of King Edward Road, Hackney. Wife of Harry Revenski. Daughter of J. Kaufman, of Folgate Street, Bishopsgate.

Lily Sly, age 29 of Glen Park Road, Hackney. Wife of E. Sly.

Elizabeth Louisa Smith, age 22, of Goresbrook Road, Dagenham. Wife of A.E. Smith. Daughter of Atkinson Moore and Elizabeth Moore of 32 Wren Gardens, Dagenham.

The two women who were injured at Spriggs Oak, but died later at St. Margaret’s Emergency Hospital were:

Bertha Fleischman (Russian National), age 25, of Newbold Street, Commercial Road. Wife of Otto Fleischman.

Adela Franks, age 28, of Ashfield Street, Stepney. Wife of S. Franks.

The bodies of these eight women were returned to their families and buried in their local areas. Their families, who thought they were safe away from the dangers of the capital, must have been devastated. Not only had a daughter or wife been lost, but also the unborn child and this must have made their tragic loss even harder to take. The death toll could have been higher still. The women who had decided to go
to the cinema that evening had had a very lucky escape.

As the days passed, the rubble was cleared away and the house was boarded up. Some of the survivors remained in hospital for sometime, while others were transferred to other hostels ready to give birth to their babies. Spriggs Oak was let empty and would not be repaired for sometime.

For the people of Epping, life gradually returned to normal. Millicent Stevens, who went on to become a Corporal in the Auxiliary Training Service, was dubbed “The Heroine of Spriggs Oak” by the “West Essex Gazette” when she was married nearly three years after the incident. By coincidence, a photograph of her (right) appeared in the “West Essex Gazette” following the report of her marriage, in the edition dated Saturday 9th October 1943.

In the weeks following a rumour began to spread that the bombs were dropped after the German aeroplane saw lights of cars driving along Palmers Hill. This cannot be confirmed but a captured Nazi airman was quoted in the then West Essex Gazette, in January, 1941, saying the Luftwaffe would always drop a bomb where a light could be seen if their primary target could not be found. There is a possibility that North Weald Aerodrome was the intended target but the lights of passing traffic put Spriggs Oak in the firing line.