“ Thanks to Robin Bishop for his detective work in identifying Stapylton Road. No doubt a military expert will be able to identify the regiment.
The road suffered devastating damage on 15th November 1940 from a parachute mine which exploded close to where the Spires bandstand is now. These high explosive bombs were particularly lethal as they were primed to explode at rooftop level rather than on impact. They produced a blast that sent shockwaves over a wide area without any cushioning from neighbouring buildings. They had the potential to destroy an entire street sending a blast out on a radius of up to 350 yards. The police record of the incident states that up to 300 houses were damaged.
The bomb probably exploded roughly where the bandstand is now. An older resident once told me that the hillock by the nearby bus stops was where some of the rubble was buried. Amazingly only one person was killed, a Mrs. Abrahams of 55 Bruce Road age 33. She died 3 days later in Barnet Hospital.
Most of the destroyed houses were not rebuilt after the war, which explains why numbers 1 to 11 in Stratford Road do not exist and 2 to 6 Carnarvon Road. Prefabs were built on much of the flattened area particularly on the car park site by St Albans Road. They were supposed only to have a 10 year life but were there until the 1980s. ”