7/7:The London Bombings

[Appalonia]

Anyone watching? This is going to be a hard watch, especially for those of us who were in London at the time. Can't believe it was 20 years ago...

Anyone?

Watching it, I'm really struck by the bravery and stoicism of the emergency services in the face of utter horror and carnage. I was in London at the time and worked for Victim Support, so was involved in the effort to support the victims, it was v hard to hear what some of these people had witnessed.

Absolutely this. I can't imagine what the 15 year old went through. Bad enough for anyone, but being caught up in that when alone in London must have been horrific.

Hello OP. Yes I watched it and rather wished I hadn't. Delaying going to bed as fear it will haunt my dreams. Simply horrific. And yes those brave brave emergency workers and TFL workers, their frank 'no holds barred' testimonies was so moving.

Thanks you for what you did too in helping the victims. I cannot get over that young 15 year old girl and how worried her mum must've been. And the mother calling the relatives helpline, knowing her daughter had not turned up for work.....literally can't imagine their private torture.

I'm not sure I will watch part 2 tomorrow though I feel compelled to.

It was sensitively done, very moving.

Jenny's mum wrote a book and the BBC made it into a film. It's called 'A song for Jenny' it's very well done and very moving.

Watched episode 1 and 2, will watch the next two tonight (they're all on iplayer). Absolutely fascinating insights and very sensitively made. Jenny's mother is inspiring in her strength.

I was a teenager living in London, in some ways it still feels like yesterday. Can't believe it's 20 years.

Also I can't get over the work of the CCTV reviewers. The quality and sheer volume of the images they had to review is just astounding, I hugely take for granted just how much that has improved now.

Dh and I were at a hotel in Egypt, waiting for our lift to the airport, when the news hit. Flying into London.

People were whispering about it being planes or airports next and both airports were absolutely swarming with armed police clearly 'on alert'. The flight itself was horiffic, people were on edge and nearly silent the whole way, it was really odd and unsettling.

Can't believe it's been 20 years.

We were living in London but on holiday in rural Scotland at the time. We didn't hear anything till the late evening news because we'd been out walking all day with no phone signal. It was so surreal because if we hadn't been away we would have been travelling to work at the time. The number 30 bus was a regular route into the city centre for us. Life really can change in the blink of an eye.

What a huge responsibility the police have to try to keep us safe. So much going on in the background

Ah thanks for this information- I would very much like to read the book.

I was living & working in London at the time and had friends/colleagues who witnessed a lot of what went on as were in the thick of it. Thankfully for me, I was at work already so missed getting caught up (got in early that day but remember all the news reports about weird "power surges") and nobody I knew was killed or injured, but several people I knew saw things that traumatised them for years. One of my colleagues was on the actual carriage that the Piccadilly line bomber hit, but it was so packed, he was unharmed. Walked all the way from Kings X to work covered in soot, had a shower at work, and I saw him, dazed, at the lunchtime, just repeating that "there were fatalities, there were fatalities". Another acquaintance had been on a train that passed the remains of the Edgware train just after it happened and saw everything was that left. Another was in the Tavistock square area and witnessed the bus exploding in front of her.

It's good for those stories to be aired, but my goodness, it really is a hard watch looking back. I was lucky not to be part of it in person, but it never leaves anyone who was involved and witness to it. And the knowledge, too, that it could so easy have been any one of us and that it was just the luck of the draw.

The second episode is even harder to watch. Seasoned professionals still struggling with what they had to deal with.

@Toddlerteaplease yes agree. A very hard watch. Beyond imagination really...

It is definitely a hard watch. As family we went through something very traumatic which was in the news of the time and I'm finding this very triggering but at the same time I feel very compelled to keep watching. I know exactly how those families feel.

I'd forgotten about the events two weeks later. Although Jean Charles de Menzies death was a tragic mistake. I can completely see how it happened.

a friend of mine was on the king's cross train which was blown up. She walked further down the platform because it was so busy up at the top where the first carriage was. The bomb exploded in the first carriage. If she's got on there, she probably wouldn't be there.
She was fine, physically at least.

I hadn't realised the details of the shooting of Jean Charles. How tragic. For him, his family, the police who pulled the trigger, the passengers who witnessed it.

And I also hadn't really understood the 4 other bombing attempts. Even though I was back in London and using public transport. I don't think I took in how close they came to actually detonating their bombs. I somehow thought it was a bit of a false attempt to scare people, a smoke bomb or something, not an actual serious attempt that failed.

The care of the police officers looking after the fatalities is just wonderful. Hadn’t ever considered that. Was on a tube on a different part of the network at the time.

Watching it - it's really hard watching but also quite interesting. It seems amazing in this age of instant news that it took them that time to realise it was a bomb.

Also found it really hard hearing how they sent the dogs down to keep the bodies safe overnight.

How come? they were corpses

I read the public enquiry documents, it was awful how the victims suffered 😢 I think the ambulance services changed the emergency drugs carried around by default as a result.
Really hoping nothing like this ever happens again🙏

To keep them safe from rats. They didn’t leave the bodies alone once they got to them. Out of simple respect. It’s incredibly moving. The final thing that could be done for them. Must have been some comfort to their loved ones, and also for those officers to know they did everything they could.

oh dear😢 yes I understand...that's terrible, imagine if that was one of your relatives..those poor people ..RIP

I was on the train behind one of the trains. Was stuck for hours before we emerged. My family all thought I was dead. Not sure I’ll watch it - what’s the point. I nearly died and I’m lucky I didn’t. It feels a bit misery porn.