Coventry Scaffolding has a long history working with the Tower of London, having erected various scaffolds on its buildings over the years. It was during one of these projects, on 17th July 1974, a tragic incident occurred, when a bomb exploded in the Armoury of the Tower. At the time, the building was busy with tourists, many of whom were caught up in the blast, which sadly left one person dead and a further 41 seriously injured.
On that day, a number of Coventry’s scaffolders were working on site, including George Dowsett. George and the rest of the team did what they could to assist the injured and Coventry’s Director at the time, Pat Hanifan, received a special letter recognising and thanking them for their brave actions from the Special Services and Defence Group. The letter reads as follows:
Bomb incident at Tower of London
I am writing to you once again, this time to thank you most sincerely for the assistance given by your staff on the occasion of the shocking bomb incident in the Armoury of the Tower of London on 17.7.1974.
I understand that Messrs Dowsett, Dunham and Dean of your staff working on site at the time of the explosion gave very considerable help in carrying out the wounded and maimed visitors through dense clouds of choking dust and comforting them until the arrival of the ambulances.
Will you please convey personally to the above men my most sincere thanks and appreciation of their energetic and humanitarian efforts.
There was also significant press coverage of the incident in the following days.
We are still in contact with George (below, right) who, alongside Coventry’s Directors, Perry and Paul (below, left), was invited to attend a remembrance service in the White Tower on the 50th anniversary of the event last month.
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