IVY MURIEL GLADYS SAVAGE
Ivy Savage was amongst those killed when the Whitehall Cinema was hit by a bomb in East Grinstead, Sussex on 9th July 1943.
Ivy, aged 34, was the Manageress of the Bata Shoe Shop in the town, carrying on the position for her husband, Cyril James Savage, after he was called up for active service.
The incident was reported in the Bata Record of July 1943.
Ivy left two sons aged 12 and 8.
From the Inquest Held: EAST GRINSTEAD, URBAN DISTRICT
On 9th July 1943, ten German aircraft crossed the Sussex coast at Hastings and headed for London. At 5.05 pm the air raid sirens sounded in East Grinstead. At the time 184 people were watching a film featuring Hopalong Cassidy in the Whitehall Cinema. A warning appeared on the screen that a German air raid was taking place but few of the audience, mostly children, took any notice of the message.
At 5.10 PM one pilot became separated from the other planes and decided that he would find another target before he returned home. A few minutes later he saw a train entering East Grinstead Station. He circled the town twice before dropping his bombs on the High Street.
One hit the Whitehall Cinema and others landed on several shops in the High Street and the London Road. As a result of the raid 108 people were killed and 235 were seriously injured. It was the largest loss of life in any air raid in Sussex.
