Death: Direct hit on an air raid shelter at 3 Exeter Road, Welling
Address / Local links: 5 Exeter Road, Welling
Family / Relatives: Wife of William James Bulgin
The 11th of November 1940 was Armistice Day, when throughout the nation Britain would have been remembering the awful years of WW1, but another war was about to claim the lives of two local civilians, husband and wife William and Lena Bulgin, who would have already lived through the 1914-18 war…
Lena had been born in Rotherhithe 1878, the daughter of James (a leather tannery worker) and Lydia Bridger.
In 1906 she was married at All Saints Church Rotherhithe to William James Bulgin a police officer – they lived at 53 Riverdale Road, Plumstead, and must have moved to Welling in the years after WW1.
It was here, in an air raid shelter at 3 Exeter Road, next door to their home, that they died together when a direct hit from an enemy bomber killed them both. Lena was 62.
Her body was identified by her daughter, Doris Lena Stroudley, of 27 Little Heath Road.
Poignantly, the Civilian Deaths Register lists some final details about Lena, and her final moments…
RECORD OF CIVILIAN DEATHS (From Bexley Archives)
PARTICULARS PENDING IDENTIFICATION – Hair dark, well built – 5ft 6ins. Scar on left side of chest.
INVENTORY OF PERSONAL EFFECTS – Light blue knickers, silk stockings (flesh), light fawn woollen coat, white woollen combinations. 1 ring, yellow metal, 3rd finger left hand.
BURIED BY LOCAL AUTHORITY –. Buried in East Wickham Churchyard on 18th November 1940
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If anyone is able to add any extra information, provide more family details, or suggest any corrections, please let us know – also, if anyone has any more photos of this individual listed on our memorials, please get in touch. Thank you.
Commemorated
- Bexley Municipal Borough Civilian Records
- Bexley Municipal Borough Civilian Records
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Lena Oliver Bulgin, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.