Firefighter Vickers
"He was responsible for that fire truck and would be the one who was leading his men and he had a duty to do and he, realised that it was, you know his family and also the community that he was supposed to try and protect and despite the fact there wasn’t much likelihood he was gonna be successful he stood his ground."
Firefighter Vickers was one of the two firefighters who lost their lives on duty during the Silvertown Explosion.
He worked at sea before marrying and settling in Silvertown.
Here his great grandson speaks about what happened.
Hilda (pictured right) was the daughter of Henry Vickers as a family member explains:
'My grandmother, his daughter Hilda Tickell, was in the family home at the time and was pulled under the dining room table by a family friend. Their home was destroyed. She spent the next hours wandering the street, looking for her mother. She was nearly 20 years old at the time.'
Vickers was awarded the medal of honour posthumously. Here a family member talks about the level of support from the state and community.
"...their employer was very supportive, the whole community was very supportive as far as providing accommodation for the people who were affected, because basically our grandmother and her family lost everything, their home and all their belongings in this, in this explosion. There’s a tremendous amount of support provided as far as the honour of the funeral was concerned and my grandmother said it was elaborate, the bishop was officiating there were representatives from the police and fire departments of a long way around the area, the funeral was not like a state funeral but was like a very formal one and she said it lasted a number of hours, their burials were covered and so overall I think there was a lot of respect and support for the loss."
