School Wall Clock

1940

Modern

Wall clock from Alfred Street School, stopped at 10.12am on the morning of a bombing raid which killed a number of children in the school.

Wooden wall clock from Rushden Alfred Street School

Newspaper image of the bombed school building, Afred Street in 1940

During the Second World War (1939-1945) on the 3 October 1940, The Battle of Britain (10 July-31 October 1940) was taking place. Twelve bombs were dropped by a German Luftwaffe plane in a mid-morning daylight raid on the industrial town of Rushden, causing destruction and devastation. The sixth bomb dropped on John Cave & Son Ltd boot and shoe factory in College Street, killing four men at work.

Opposite the factory was Alfred Street School. The seventh bomb saw a direct hit on a two-storey section of the school and an adjoining classroom full of boys and girls aged seven and eight. The next landed in the school playground. The majority of the pupils escaped from the classroom, but among the deeply piled debris were found seven dead or fatally injured children. Four of them, Donald Edward Scrivens, Denis James Felce, Margaret Joyce Dodd and Roy Odell, were Rushden children. The others, Lorna Mavis Pain, Cecilia Janet Chase and Muriel Ethel Moye, were in Rushden as evacuees from Colchester. A few other children were also sadly injured. Alfred Street School was the only Northamptonshire school that saw pupils being killed by an enemy bombing raid.

The School Clock which was positioned in the School Hall stopped poignantly at 10.12am the time of the bombing raid.

Number 86 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.

Image 2: Newspaper photograph provided by JP Carr

Rushden

Contributed by Jon-Paul Carr, Rushden Museum

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