I was on the London History Group forum today and I thought the members might be interested in a fascinating piece of local history I didn't know about that someone posted. It links in nicely with the Black Clock Face story so I went back to my taxi driver days and told the story...for the umpteenth time!
This is the original posting....
" The bomber Rotherhithe’s Revenge had been the latest addition to three other planes that were part of the U.S Eighth Army Air Force Bomber Station. The other three were named Bermondsey Battler, London Avenger and Bermondsey Special. The four planes were known at the time as the Bermondsey War Loan Fleet of American Bombers. Most of the Eighth Bomb Group could boast of long serving aircraft and the 381st was no exception, having several rugged B-17’s that had managed to complete over 100 combat missions. One of the two most famous aircraft was Rotherhithe’s Revenge which had been purchased by contributions from the people of Bermondsey"
.....and this was my comment.... Mick Hodges Thats a good story. Interesting that the people of Bermondsey were happy, during the war, to contribute towards a bomber. It ties in nicely with the mythical black clock face story. Apparently the people of Bermondsey were not willing to contribute when the church was asking for donations towards the rebuilding of St George the Martyr in the eighteenth century. So when they put the four faces on the tower clock, the East one, facing towards Bermondsey was painted black as a gesture to Bermondsey. One of the taxi drivers favourite anecdotes.😆