A landscape after the Silvertown explosion by
John Henry Avery
It’s the biggest single explosion to have ever taken place on London soil, but the story of 1917’s Silvertown disaster is relatively unknown. Here Museum of London Docklands Curator, Georgina Young, uses maps and images from the Port of London Authority Archive to delve a little deeper into the unfortunate event, which claimed the lives of 73 local people and injured over 400.
“Suddenly a golden glow lit up the eastern sky making everything as clear as day; and looking down the Thames I saw a high Column of yellow flames rising, as I thought, from the river.” Michael McDonagh, The Times
See a selection of the images featured in the Museum of London Docklands’ permanent galleries.
