Terry Wilkinson, great grandson of W.A. Wilkinson writes….
An appeal to you all for a very special photograph! You all by now know about the bombing of Wilkinsons lemonade factory in North Shields at midnight on 3rd May 1941. The cost in human life was horrendous – 107 people died in the basement which was being used as an air raid shelter, 42 of them were under the age of 16 and whole families were lost. It was a truly cataclysmic event for the North Shields community. (As much as is known about it is already on this superb website which covers all aspects of the incident in great depth.) Even allowing for wartime censorship and restrictions, little is known about the bombing beyond Tyneside, despite the fact that it is reported to be the worst single bomb incident outside London in terms of loss of life! Next year sees the 75th anniversary. The only photographs we have of the factory are those of its ruins the following morning. There is a line drawing of the factory from an ancient advert in a trade magazine and an equally old photograph of the shop which was situated on the ground floor, but there is no trace of a photograph of the factory building itself before the raid. It was situated on the corner of King Street and George Street. PLEASE help us to find a photograph. There has to be one somewhere! It is our Holy Grail!!