A small group of relatives gathered at a windswept Manor Park Cemetery to remember 88 people killed in Bethnal Green in one of the worst civilian disasters of the Second World War.

They came for the blessing of a new memorial wall to the 88 buried there — around half the number of men, women, children and babies killed in 1943 in the tragedy.

They were crushed to death on the narrow staircase leading down into the unfinished Bethnal Green Tube station that was being used as a public air-raid shelter.

A service at Manor Park Cemetery remembers victims of the 1943 Bethnal Green Tube station disasterA service at Manor Park Cemetery remembers victims of the 1943 Bethnal Green Tube station disaster (Image: Stairway to Heaven Trust)

The high winds on Sunday (November 24) during Storm Bert meant the cemetery had to be closed early due to safety risks.

Memorial headstones to 1943 Bethnal Green Tube station disaster victimsMemorial headstones to 1943 Bethnal Green Tube station disaster victims (Image: Stairway to Heaven Trust)

A campaign by local historian Ben Priestley and the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust managed to keep sacred the remembrance corner, where memorial headstones are located.

“Civilian casualties of war, mainly women and children, are all too often forgotten and lost to history,” Mr Priestley said.

“Our campaign for the new Memorial Wall is a reminder to future generations about what East Enders endured during the war.”

The memorial corner at Manor Park Cemetery to the 1943 Bethnal Green disasterThe memorial corner at Manor Park Cemetery to the 1943 Bethnal Green disaster (Image: Stairway to Heaven Trust)

Some of the victims who were buried in the area were identified and their graves moved to the new Memorial Wall.

Sunday’s remembrance was led by the Curate of Christchurch Spitalfields, The Rev Moira McCutcheon, organised by the memorial trust.

But it had to be switched to the cemetery chapel because of safety concerns in Sunday’s gale-force winds.

Rev Moira McCutcheon at the eventRev Moira McCutcheon at the event (Image: Stairway to Heaven Trust)

Many were delayed by the extreme weather disrupting travel and missed the ceremony.

Relatives read out the names of the 88 victims buried at the cemetery, just over half of the 173 who died in the tragedy on March 3, 1943.

Stairway at Bethnal Green being repaired after the 1943 disasterStairway at Bethnal Green being repaired after the 1943 disaster (Image: LBTH Archive)

The disaster was caused by the sound of anti-aircraft guns being tested without warning in Victoria Park that led to a rush for shelter and the crush that followed — which tragically proved to be a false alarm.

A heated debate later in Parliament accused the Minister of Home Defence Herbert Morrison of having earlier denied Bethnal Green Borough Council’s request for funds to make the public shelter safe.