SHELL MEX HOUSE
T
he Shell Mex House incident, which was situated at the corner of Spring Bank and Ferensway was an A.R.P. Control Centre. A landmine came down on the building blowing it apart and killing several people. Among the dead was Dr. David Diamond, the Deputy Medical Officer, a young R.A.F. man, who was on leave and waiting in the building for his fiancé. Another fatality was that of P.C. Garton, who was on duty at the door of the building. After the explosion no trace of Garton could be found, just scraps of his uniform. The Shell Mex building, or at least what was left of it, after the air raid. The recovery truck of Robert Tarran, director of Tarran Industries and one of the biggest employers in Hull during the war can be seen on site at the doorway where P.C. Garton was stood.
This raid took place on the night of March 31st and April 1st 1941 from 20.22 until 00.51. Ferensway was badly hit, and it was reported that the A.R.P. Control had been badly damaged. Fifty-two people were killed, and 72 people injured. The raid also hit Freehold Street, Boulevard, Hedon Road, Prospect Street, and Priory Sidings. Monday, March 31st 1941 was the night on which the Control H.Q. was totally destroyed resulting in the loss of life and valuable war records. At 8-20 the sirens went, and the first flares dropped shortly afterwards. Just after 21.00 the first bomb dropped in East Hull. Flares, high explosives and land mines fell from the skies onto the streets of Hull. 200 casualties were registered, 50 deaths, 500 houses made uninhabitable, 2,000 damaged. Just after 22.15 a land mine fell outside the Shell Mex Buildings, on the Ferensway – Spring Bank corner. Among the dead were Dr. David Diamond, the Deputy Medical Officer, a young R.A.F. man, who was on leave and waiting in the building for his fiancé. Another fatality was that of P.C. Garton, who was on duty at the door of the building. After the explosion no trace of Garton could be found, just scraps of his uniform. A number of fire watchers on the roof were also killed. The roof collapsed, ceilings fell, cars were thrown through the air, fires broke out, and a part of the road was blown upright, but despite this, by dusk the following day, the A.R.P. Control was functioning again. Police Constable Robert Garton was 46 when he died on March 31st 1941. He was the son of Robert and Ada Garton of Beverley, and resided at 31 Ventor Street, Newland Avenue. He is listed as being killed at the junction of Ferensway and Pearson Street. David Diamond was 37 years old when he died on March 31st 1941. He was the D.P.H., M.R.C.P., Deputy Medical Officer of Health and resided at 112 Sunnybank. His wife was Nan Diamond, and he is listed as dying at the Control Centre, Ferensway.
Other fatalities recorded here during this raid at this location included,
Name
Age
20 Bramwell Butler 44 Ada Ann Carrington 62 Emma Howard 80 Annie Elizabeth Jennison 56 George Henry Jennison 62 Lillian Johnson 37 Geoffrey Wood 11 Joyce Wood 14 Mavis Wood 7 Susan Wood 38 Phyllis Evelyn Bayton
Address
Location of Death__________
87 Argyle-street 51 Watt-street 16 Pearson-street 63 Pearson-street 35 Pearson-street 35 Pearson-street 13 Spring-street 28 Pearson-street 28 Pearson-street 28 Pearson-street 28 Pearson-street
Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Firewatcher Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter Ferensway Shelter
The official files show a great number of other fatalities in Hull between March 31st and April 1st 1941. Among the official files, is one marked TYA/9, which features a description of the discovery of a pile of human flesh recovered on nearby Spring Street! Another section of the file features the following information, Date: 31/3/41 time: 23-21. Control wrecked by direct hit, Dr. Diamond found killed. Controller and control set up at University. Two things struck me about this file, the matter of fact report that the central control department had been destroyed, and the fact that they had quickly relocated to another site and continued through the night. In late 2012 I was lecturing on Hull’s Ghostly Myths and Legends when afterwards I was informed that the Crown House, situated on the plot of land on Ferensway between Ferensway, Spring Bank, and Pearson Street. I was told that the cellar area was haunted, and as such the staff would only descend into the depths in pairs. I asked whether anyone had seen anything and was told that a man had been seen but he always seemed to be in the shadows. This, at least to me, sounded very much like the Debenhams case but I was intrigued and decided to investigate a little further. Days later I was told of several other eyewitnesses who had seen similar things. I was given their contact details and chased them up, and sure enough, they also told me that it was a man seen in the shadows, but this time they told me a few more details. The cellar had two stairwells that were no longer in use, the stairs were made from concrete, and by all accounts came from the street level into the building. The weird thing is, if you went up the stairs the top was blocked off almost as if they were from another building. The eyewitnesses reported seeing a man, dressed in black trousers, with black boots, walking up the stairs and vanishing into the ceiling above. They thought he was either a police officer or military man. Could this latter apparition be Police Constable Robert Garton?
HAUN TED
MAGA Z I NE
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