Baby born inside WWII Anderson air raid shelter, named Anderson

Family inside Anderson air raid shelter
Family inside Anderson air raid shelter

On the night of August 28, 1940, German planes dropped bombs over London and other places in Britain. The air raid started around 9 pm and lasted for more than seven hours.

During the early hours of August 29th, a woman identified as Mrs. Plume gave birth to a 7-pound baby boy inside an Anderson air raid shelter buried in the back garden of a house in North London.

[He] was the first baby to be born in a shelter. He has been named John Anderson Plume, after Sir John Anderson, Minister for Home Security, after whom Anderson shelters are called.

The birth took place on a blanket-covered wooden bench by the light of a motor-cycle head lamp.

Source: “Many Areas Attacked by German Raiders.” Argus [Melbourne] 30 Aug. 1940: 1.
Image: © 1940 British Pathé (screenshot of Your Anderson Shelter This Winter)

One thought on “Baby born inside WWII Anderson air raid shelter, named Anderson

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.