Westminster Gardens

11 May 1941

By John Winger

On 11 May 1941 at 1.15 am, a high explosive bomb fell on the courtyard of Westminster Gardens, a block of flats between Marsham Street and John Islip Street SW1, and exploded. Thankfully, there were no casualties.

On 10-11 May 1941 the Luftwaffe launched their largest raid on London of the Blitz. Unknown to Londoners it would be the last major attack of the first phase of the Blitz. Hitler was now preparing his bomber fleets for the invasion of the Soviet Union (22 June 1941).

The bombing began at 11 pm and lasted until around 6am the following morning. This raid, which was later called “The Longest Night” took 1,486 lives and destroyed or damaged over 11,000 properties. It badly damaged London landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, Waterloo Station, the British Museum, and many more.