How to find it
On the wall of Blandy and Blandy Solicitors at the start of the passageway between it and St Laurence Church.
Unveiling
The memorial plaque was unveiled on Sunday 14th February 2013, by Derek Chamberlain, who aged 14 had been seriously injured by the People’s Pantry bomb, and former Mayor, Brian Fowles who at 16, was a part-time Civil Defence messenger who was on the scene of the bombing within minutes.
The audience included the then Mayor, Jenny Rynn, the Leader of the Council, Jo Lovelock whose family were affected by the raid, and over 200 people including eyewitnesses and those with family memories of the event.
The location, and the plaque itself, were donated by Blandy and Blandy Solicitors whose offices had been wrecked by the fourth bomb, and one of whose employees, Frank Seymour, was killed. If you stand facing the memorial, and look to your right you can see where the Victorian bricks end and the post-War replacement begins.
Background
Standing just outside St Laurence’s Church and the offices of Blandy and Blandy’s you’re within feet of where a 500kg (1100lb) German bomb exploded in February 1943, and only yards from the scene of the worst air raid incident in Reading in WWII
At about twenty-five to five on 10th February 1943, a single German Dornier 217E-4 dropped four bombs across the Town Centre. The first bomb exploded just behind the People’s Pantry at 175 Friar St., collapsing the upper floors of the building into its basement killing 29 people and injuring many more.
The People’s Pantry, opened by the Corporation in 1940, was a “British Restaurant” set up to help people make their rations go further and support morale by offering cheap, off-ration meals. In 1943 it was one of five across Reading, with a sixth due to open in a few months.
Wednesday 10th February was Early Closing Day, and the People’s Pantry was one of the few places open. The other three bombs fell firstly on the south side of Minster St, secondly in the rear of Wellsteeds department store and thirdly a few feet from the south tower of the Town Hall.
The 41 killed that day included two girls aged 10 and 11 in Minster St, Civil Defence workers and people having tea in the People’s Pantry.
Although Reading had been bombed around 20 times, this was the only raid to cause fatal casualties.
Other information
If you face the front of St Laurence’s Church you will see damage to the stonework caused by the exploding bomb.
You can see a spoon from the People’s Pantry and a German bullet fired during the air raid in Reading Museum.
One of the survivors of the bombing was the creator of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond, who was working on a BBC radio transmitter in the top floor of the People’s Pantry building.
In the same raid 15 people were killed by bombs in Newbury
Credit: Mike Cooper