Four rabbis meet Queen in children’s memorial

Four rabbis took part in a ceremony attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in memory of 18 children killed 100 years ago, after a German bomber attacked a school.

Military historian Stan Kaye was one of four researchers who helped trace the descendant of those whose family members were caught up in the first daylight raid by a Gotha, a fixed-wing bomber, on 13 June 1917.

At around 11.20am, the bomb dropped on Upper North Street School in Poplar (now Mayflower Primary School).

Descendants of both those killed and those who survived attended the interfaith ceremony at All Saints Church in Poplar, East London, which was conducted by the Bishop of Stepney.

Attending were Armed Forces Chaplain Rabbi Reuben Livingstone, Rabbi Alan Plancey formerly of Borehamwood Synagogue, Rabbi David Mason of Muswell Hill, and Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy, former leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation.

Kaye – the only researcher who’s Jewish – organised the event and was presented to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. He also introduced the former to 40 of the 127 descendants who were in attendance, including the descendants of the Levy sisters who survived the bombing.