The brother of a man who survived an explosion that killed 15 people has won the right to have a plaque commemorating their lives reinstated.

John Bumstead was just 16 and working as a volunteer for the Mitcham Home Guard when an enemy landmine was dropped on the former site of the Creameries factory in Commonside East, Mitcham, on April 16, 1941.

He was not supposed to be working that night, but had offered to cover a shift for a
colleague.

More than 70 years later his twin brother, Bill Bumstead, can still recall hearing the air raid sirens, the “whizz” of shrapnel falling nearby and seeing a large red fire ball at the Creameries where he had raced to find his brother.

He said: “There were people running here and there and trying to get the fire under control. I saw three or four bodies lying on the ground, but I couldn’t see John.”

His brother was one of a few who survived the blast and had been taken to hospital where Bill found him lying in a stretcher – his head, face and arms bandaged.

Mr Bumstead suffered for the rest of his life with ill health, later contracting tuberculosis through blood loss and sleep apnoea following the blast, the force of which caused an imbalance in his brain.

He died aged 72 in 1996.

A plaque was erected in 1948 to commemorate 15 members of the “B” coy 57th Surrey (Mitcham) Home Guard and Tower Creameries who lost their lives that day, but was taken away for safe keeping when the building was
demolished.

It was later displayed at the Royal British Legion’s Mitcham headquarters in St Mark’s Road, Mitcham, in 1996.

But when work to develop the old Creameries site began earlier this year, Mr Bumstead, with the help of Melanie Nunzet from the Friends of Mitcham Common, contacted the developers who agreed to put up a replica of the plaque.

He said: “There should be a reminder for future generations of those who gave their lives, or suffered throughout their lives through injuries sustained on that night, and who should be remembered.

“[John] was a very brave guy for what he went through and to cope with it as he did through his life.”

A rededication ceremony will be held on December 14 at the new Meadows development in Commonside East at noon to which all are welcome.

If you recognise any of the names on the plaque please call Melanie Nunzet on 07944 833605.