A memorial to the seven staff killed in a devastating attack at south Croydon bus station during the blitz is to be unveiled.

Staff are hoping to commemorate the tragedy on May 11.

They want the memorial to serve as a poignant reminder that exactly 70 years ago men lay dead in the station, which had been reduced to a smoking ruin after a ferocious Nazi attack.

During the night of May 10, two bombs were dropped on the bus garage in Brighton Road.

Most of the buses in the garage had been filled with petrol, ready for work the next day, and when the bombs hit and the engines caught fire the depot was engulfed in flames.

Horrified onlookers made heroic efforts to rescue the men trapped in the raging inferno.

Historian WC Berwick Sayers remembered the attacks in his history book, Croydon during the Second World War.

He wrote: “There were men inside, some of whom, when the first bomb fell, had dived into one of the examination pits under the buses.

“The commandant of stretcher depot eight played a part that deserves to be recorded.

“Other men had been blown under buses and were unconscious. He rescued three of them and returned four times.

“His attempts to get the two men out of the pits were in vain. The garage was completely destroyed, and with it 65 buses.”

Water used by firefighters became so hot, as flames heated the hydrants, that rescuers were scalded as they went in to save those trapped.

Freddie Soper, the bus driver who is organising the memorial, said: “It is the 70th anniversary this year, and we decided it was time to do something to honour those who died.”

Mr Soper, who has worked at the station for 40 years, said the memorial did not have the names of the men who died, but drivers hoped the bronze plaque would be a fitting tribute.

Do you know more about the men that died? If so contact the Heritage desk on 078257 153 15 or email kwhalley@london.newsquest.co.uk