The day 41 people lost their lives in Reading town centre
A special ceremony will remember an air raid 80 years ago
Reading comes together to mark the 80th anniversary of the People’s Pantry Bombing, where 41 people lost their lives and many more were injured during World War II.
On Friday 10 February, the Mayor of Reading, Cllr Rachel Eden, will lead a short service and lay a wreath to pay tribute the people who lost their lives when a lone German Dornier bomber dropped four 500kg bombs in the centre of town on 10 February 1943.
Tragically, only 37 of those among the dead and injured were identified, the youngest being two 10-year-old children.
The service will take place beside in the commemorative plaque on Town Hall Square, near the offices of Blandy and Blandy Solicitors, from 2pm, with members of the public welcome to join.
The plaque was unveiled in 2013, as part of the 70th Anniversary commemorations of the bombing in which 150 people were also injured. Blandy’s chambers were badly damaged by the fourth bomb dropped during the raid. Shrapnel marks are still visible on the adjacent St Laurence’s Church.
Twenty-nine of those killed in the bombing had been inside The People’s Pantry, just opposite the Town Hall, which had been set up as an emergency feeding centre offering cheap meals to help supplement rationed food. A bomb passed through the roof of the building and detonated close to the Town Hall. The raid was one of around 20 air attacks to hit Reading during the war.
You can read more about the raid here