Dead End Kids (firefighters)

The Dead End Kids were a group of firefighters during the London Blitz during World War II.

History

The Dead End Kids were a group of poor children and teenagers organised by Patrick "Patsy" Duggan, a 16 year old dock worker and the son of a Poplar bin man,[1][2] to fight fires in Wapping, East End of London during the London Blitz.[3][4][5] Some of the members had returned to London from their evacuation to the countryside during the "Phoney War."[6] The group took their name from the Dead End Kids street gang from 1930s and 1940s films.[7]

Duggan, with recruits as young as 10 years old, equipped themselves with tools such as buckets of sand and rope to fight fires and help people in distress during the air raids of the Blitz.[1][7] They formed teams of four to undertake their volunteer duties and would force open doors to rescue people trapped in buildings.[7] Their "headquarters" was in an annex at Watson's Wharf Shelter.[3][8]

The London Fire Journal, reported an account by an eye witness, who said of the Dead End Kids that: "they rushed up the stairs, ready it seemed to eat fires .. emerging from the building, some of them with their tatty clothes smouldering."[1][4] A pensioner described how one of the Dead End Kids carried her out of a burning building in her armchair and the group were also credited with rescuing 230 people from a damaged air raid shelter.[1]

Two of the Dead End Kids, Bert Eden and Ronnie Eyres, who were 16 years old and 18 years old respectively, died by being crushed by a wall while they were putting out incendiary bombs.[1][6] They were buried at Woodgrange Cemetery. Duggan was also injured on this occasion, and later tried to obtain posthumous honours for his friends.[2] Eyres had been accepted into the Royal Air Force (RAF) just before his death.[2]

Other known members were Shamus O'Brien (who was ten years old in April 1941)[9][10] and Maureen Duggan.[1]

Legacy

Bernard Ashley's 2015 book Dead End Kids: Heroes of the Blitz was inspired by the story of the Dead of Kids.[11][12]

Peter Ackroyd has referred to the group in his history of London as the "unofficial fight fighters of the Blitz."[13]

In 2025, the Dead End Kids featured in the third episode of Ruth Goodman and Rob Rinder's channel five history programme "In Rich Times, Poor Times."

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Parson, Ian (15 December 2015). "The 'Dead End Kids' of the London Blitz". The History Press. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Rule, Fiona (28 January 2019). London's Docklands: A History of the Lost Quarter. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-9099-8.
  3. ^ a b "The 'Dead End Kids' are assembled in their annexe of the public air..." Getty Images. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b "LONDON FIRE JOURNAL British Fire History: BLITZ OF 1940-1941". LONDON FIRE JOURNAL British Fire History. 18 July 2005. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  5. ^ Areté Magazine. Areté. 2000. p. 154.
  6. ^ a b Osborne, Mike (17 September 2023). Youth at War: Young People and their Schools in Britain in the Second World War. Fonthill Media.
  7. ^ a b c Longden, Sean (1 March 2012). Blitz Kids: The Children's War Against Hitler. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-84901-827-2.
  8. ^ Ramsey, Winston G. (1987). The Blitz Then and Now. Battle of Britain Prints International Limited. p. 430. ISBN 978-0-900913-54-9.
  9. ^ "Ten year-old Shamus O'Brien, mascot of the 'Dead End Kids' - a gang..." Getty Images. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  10. ^ Webb, Sarah; Podesta, Ed (3 October 2016). Hodder GCSE History for Edexcel: Warfare through time, c1250–present. Hachette Learning. ISBN 978-1-4718-6170-3.
  11. ^ Ashley, Bernard (2 July 2015). Dead End Kids: Heroes of the Blitz. Hachette Children's Group. ISBN 978-1-4083-3896-4.
  12. ^ "Dead End Kids: Heroes of the Blitz by Bernard Ashley - TheBookbag.co.uk book review". The Book Bag. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  13. ^ Ackroyd, Peter (27 November 2001). London: The Biography. Random House UK. p. 742. ISBN 978-0-09-942258-7.
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