Selfridges, Oxford Street
18 September 1940
By Ronan Thomas
Selfridges department store at 400 Oxford Street was damaged in 1940, 1941 and 1944. On 18 September 1940 – in the same raid which destroyed John Lewis’s further east along Oxford Street – Selfridge & Co Ltd was hit by a single high explosive bomb and by several incendiaries. The store’s roof garden – popular since 1910 as a place for strolling after shopping – was wrecked by blast and closed to the public. Broken glass from Selfridges’ many upper storey windows fell into surrounding streets. Owner H.Gordon Selfridge’s prized signature window - autographed by dozens of celebrity visitors to the store since its opening in 1909 - was shattered. The sight reportedly reduced the retired 84-year-old American retailer to tears.
Selfridges' magnificent Art Deco lifts, installed in 1928, suffered flood damage and were rendered inoperable until the end of the war. After the 18 September raid, the ground floor windows – normally used for the store's world famous shop front displays - were bricked up for the war’s duration. Selfridges had survived, but with serious internal wounds. St Marylebone Civil Defence records detail further incendiary bomb damage inflicted in the night raid of 16-17 April 1941. In this attack, fire consumed the store's Palm Court Restaurant, venue for the rich and famous.
Despite the damage of 1940-41, Selfridges was keen to show its continuing commitment to Allied victory. The store hosted Utility fashion shows and mounted exhibitions and window displays with wartime themes. It was also to play a more important role as the war progressed. One of Selfridges’ sub-basements, 200ft below street level, was converted to hold a secret Bell Telephone ‘X-System’ communications system. Codenamed ‘SIGSALY‘ and operated by US Army technicians, specialist cryptographic signal equipment scrambled top-secret phone calls between Britain and her Allies. The SIGSALY terminal weighed some 55 tons and occupied around 2,500 square feet of the Selfridges basement.
From 1943-1945, this system – linked from Selfridges to the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall - provided Prime Minster Winston Churchill with a secure telephone link to Washington and his US counterpart, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. But conditions for many in the Selfridges basement were basic. According to one account:
“ We worked under ground under Selfridges and if we were on night duty we had to sleep in bunks in the tunnels where there were rats. We didn’t get much sleep but it was preferable to trying to get home in the small hours if there were bombs going off. The place itself was bombed and the soldier who was on guard was killed. We didn’t know what to do when we arrived in the morning because we couldn’t get in. We were simply told we would be contacted”.
Selfridges’ war was not over. At 11pm, 6 December 1944, a V2 rocket hit the Red Lion pub on the corner of Duke Street and Barrett Street, just yards from Selfridges. A canteen situated in the Selfridges Annex building – bordering Somerset, Wigmore and Orchard streets and nicknamed the SWOD - was massively damaged. Eight American servicemen were killed and 32 injured. Initial incident messages reported that American forces and medical personnel assisted the extraction of their own casualties. Ten British civilians - some in passing vehicles - also died. Seven others were injured. Selfridges’ shop-front Christmas tree displays were blown into Oxford Street. Although the Food Hall was unscathed, other departments had to be cleaned throughout. Ruptured water mains also threatened operation of the SIGSALY system. A staff member recalled:
“We moved fixtures away from the water coming through the ceiling and swept the water down the building towards Duke Street; it slopes that way. There were sandbags across all the stairs to prevent the water going down to the basement.”
In a memo to staff, H. Gordon Selfridge praised their swift response and their courage. The next day, 7 December 1944, Selfridges was again open for business.
For more on the raids on Oxford Street on 17-18 September 1940 see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8937000/8937074.stm
V2 damage to Selfridges, 1944 (viewed from Barrett Street)
Copyright Westminster City Archives
V2 strike on Duke Street, 1944 (view from Selfridges Annex)
Copyright Westminster City Archives
ARP Message Form, Selfridges, September 1940
Copyright Westminster City Archives
V2 strike opposite Selfridges, 1944 (Duke Street/Barrett Street).
Copyright Westminster City Archives
ARP Message Form, Selfridges, September 1940
Copyright Westminster City Archives
St Marylebone ARP Message, Selfridges, 6 December 1944
Copyright Westminster City Archives
St Marylebone ARP Message, Selfridges, 6 December 1944
Copyright Westminster City Archives
St Marylebone ARP Message, Selfridges, 7 December 1944
Copyright Westminster City Archives
Bomb Map: V2 strike opposite Selfridges, 1944
Copyright Westminster City Archives
Selfridges, Oxford Street