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Kingsbury: Buoyant Upholstery Fire and Incendiary Bomb

With thoughts of the dangers of the Blitz in people's minds, a local tragedy in Sandiacre brings preparations into stark focus.

Home movie 1940 4 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for Media Archive for Central England

Overview

A blaze that started in a storeroom at the Buoyant Upholstery factory on Bridge Street at Sandiacre in January 1940 leaves two people dead. These dramatic real-life scenes captured by film-maker Ivan Kingsbury are followed on the reel by a demonstration of how to extinguish a phosphorous incendiary bomb using sand and water. Vital skills that the local ARP need in an uncertain future that could produce even more deadly blazes.