1953 Storm Surge Deaths: U.K.
1953 flood flood of 1953 flood of ‘53
Please reference this document as:
Kelman, I. 2009. 1953 Storm Surge Deaths: U.K. Version 5, 17 August 2009 (Version 1 was 30 November 2002). Downloaded from
http://www.ilankelman.org/disasterdeaths/1953DeathsUK.doc
Purpose:
From 31 January to 1 February 1953, a storm surge devastated coastal areas of several North Sea countries. Despite extensive research and
material published on this event, reported death tolls vary and discrepancies amongst (and sometimes within) sources exist. In particular, the
U.K. literature tends to leave out U.K. deaths at sea. The table here presents data and sources in order to provide a record of the deaths in the
U.K. Only statements with explicit numbers, including zero, are recorded. One important source which this table does not yet fully tap is local
newspaper archives, plus many other publications could be examined.
These death figures account for only the people who died immediately, not including those who later suffered premature deaths due to the
psychological and/or physical toll exacted on them from having experienced the storm surge.
Suggestions to:
Ilan Kelman
http://www.ilankelman.org/contact.html
Contents
Deaths in England on Land ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Other Deaths ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Other Statements on Death Tolls ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Plaques ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Sources ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13
1
Deaths in England on Land
Notes:
The table is ordered from north to south, following eastern England’s coastline.
The first two columns represent the lowest and highest death tolls respectively reported for each location.
The third column is the death toll reported from the “Source” column.
deaths
low
deaths
high
deaths
Location
40
County
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
43
40
43
4
4
16
6
6
0
15
15
26
20
15
15
15
15
15
15
25
25
25
9
9
25
9
Saltfleet
Saltfleet
Mablethorpe-Sutton area
Ingoldmells
Ingoldmells
Skegness
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Ingoldmells to Skegness
Skegness area
King’s Lynn
King’s Lynn
King’s Lynn
King’s Lynn
King’s Lynn
King’s Lynn
Lincolinshire
Lincolnshire
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Snettisham
Snettisham
Norfolk
Norfolk
Heacham
Norfolk
Source
Pollard pp. 32, 44
http://www.hoveto.freeserve.co.uk/53floods.htm on 15
September 2002
Harland and Harland pp. 24, 26
Summers p. 69
Summers pp. 72, 162
Harland and Harland p. 27
Summers p. 73
Harland and Harland p. 27
Summers p. 68
Summers pp. 73, 162
Grieve p. 86
Harland and Harland pp. 24, 29
Ogley et al. pp. 77, 83
Pollard pp. 44, 49
Summers pp. 75, 77, 162
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Ogley et al. p. 82
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Ogley et al. p. 83
2
Notes
Geographic scope is not clear.
Drowned.
Drowned.
“In Skegness itself, there were
no casualties” p. 27
Drowned.
Drowned.
Drowned.
Drowned pp. 75, 77.
9
32
31
31
31
32
32
32
Heacham
Norfolk
Hunstanton
Hunstanton
Hunstanton
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Hunstanton
Hunstanton
Norfolk
Norfolk
Hunstanton
Norfolk
Wiveton
Wiveton
Norfolk
Norfolk
Cley
Cley
Cley
Salthouse
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Ogley et al. p. 81
Plaque in garden (see below).
Pollard p. 47 quoting the number listed on the
plaque.
Pollard p. 47 quoting the Hunstanton inquest.
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
http://www.norfolka2z.co.uk/tv/hunstanton.ht
m on 11 January 2003 quoting the number
listed on the plaque.
Ogley et al. p. 87
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Ogley et al. pp. 77, 87
Pollard p. 75
Summers pp. 75, 79
Harland and Harland p. 32
Salthouse
Norfolk
Ogley et al. p. 88
Salthouse
Norfolk
Sea Palling
Sea Palling
Norfolk
Norfolk
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Harland and Harland p. 32
Ogley et al. pp. 77, 91, 92
Sea Palling
Norfolk
Pollard p. 39
Sea Palling
Sea Palling
Norfolk
Norfolk
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
Summers pp. 75, 79, 162
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Harland and Harland pp. 24, 33
31
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
9
10
10
3
Lists only 27 names.
Drowned.
Drowned.
Drowned pp. 75, 79.
Victim swept through her
kitchen window.
Victim swept through her
kitchen window.
Drowned pp. 77, 91, 92.
“one died of exposure” p. 91.
Drowned p. 39.
1 died of exposure p. 39.
Drowned.
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
Ogley et al. pp. 77, 91
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
Norfolk
Pollard pp. 41, 44
Summers pp. 75, 80, 162
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
Norfolk
Wallington
Norfolk
Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Southwold
Southwold
Southwold
Southwold
Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk
Aldeburgh
Suffolk
Tooke p. 77
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
http://www.hunstanton.net/stormin/03Aug00.
htm on 15 September 2002
Harland and Harland p. 33
Ogley et al. pp. 93, 97
Pollard pp. 42,44
Ogley et al. pp. 77, 93
Pollard p. 52
Summers pp. 75, 81
http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/dont_miss/flood
s/Floods_appeal.shtml on 4 December 2002
(article dated 11 September 2002).
Ogley et al. p. 95
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Harland and Harland p. 24
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Harland and Harland p. 37
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Ogley et al. pp. 77, 95
Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Suffolk
Pollard p. 44
Pollard p. 57
9
9
10
9
9
1
0
5
1
0
5
1
0
0
0
5
5
5
5
0
0
0
over
40
39
39
40
40
40
39
4
Drowned p. 77.
6 drowned and three shock p.
92.
6 drowned (three swept away)
and 4 shock p. 80.
4 Drowned p. 93.
Drowned.
Drowned p. 75.
1 drowned a few days later
while repairing breaches p. 95.
Drowned p. 24. Geographic
scope is not clear p. 37. Same
source; two different death
tolls.
“Twenty eight people who had
clung to roofs had been
washed away and drowned” p.
95.
Same source; two different
death tolls.
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Summers p. 81
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Felixstowe
Suffolk
Harwich
Harwich
Harwich
Harwich
Harwich
Bramble Island
Bramble Island
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
The Felixstowe Times, “Flood Special” 7
February 1953 p. 1. Reprinted in Ogley et al.
p. 98.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/dont_miss/flood
s/Floods_appeal.shtml on 4 December 2002
(article dated 11 September 2002).
http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/eduzone/floods/
Content/felixstowe/asp/study_of_felixstowe.a
sp on 4 November 2002
Grieve p. 568
Harland and Harland pp. 24, 38
Ogley et al. p. 96
Pollard pp. 38, 57
Summers pp. 75, 83, 163
Grieve p. 568
Pollard p. 62
Bramble Island
Bramble Island
Jaywick
Jaywick
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Summers p. 163
Summers pp. 75, 96
Grieve pp. 556, 568
Grieve pp. 557
Jaywick
Essex
Harland and Harland pp. 24, 38
Jaywick
Jaywick
Jaywick
Jaywick
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Holland p. 6
Ogley et al. p. 96
Pollard p. 38
Pollard p. 63
28
39
39
39
8
1
8
1
8
8
8
8
8
1
1
1
1
35
36
35
37
37
35
37
35
37
5
This number appears to refer
to only “people clinging to the
roofs [who] were washed away
and drowned”.
Drowned.
Drowning.
Drowned p. 24.
Drowned.
Drowned pp. 75, 83.
Drowning.
Told as a story of a drowning,
not given as a death toll.
Drowned pp. 75, 96.
Drowning p. 568.
“11 men and 25 women” p.
557 but other comments on
that page imply 35 dead.
Drowned pp. 24, 38. Plus
“others died later from shock
and exposure” p. 38.
Drowned.
Same source; two different
death tolls.
35
2
2
2
2
2
at
least 1
2
2
1
6
3
1
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Summers pp. 75, 85, 163
Grieve pp. 557, 568
Holland p. 6
Pollard p. 64
Point Clear Bay
Wallasea Island
Wallasea Island
Essex
Essex
Essex
Summers pp. 85, 163
Grieve p. 568
Holland p. 7
Wallasea Island
Essex
Summers pp. 85, 86, 163
Foulness Island
Foulness Island
Foulness Island
Havengore Island
Havengore Island
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Grieve p. 568
Pollard p. 82
Summers pp. 85, 86, 163
Grieve p. 568
Holland p. 8
Great Wakering
Great Wakering
Great Wakering
Essex
Essex
Essex
Grieve p. 568
Holland p. 8
Summers pp. 86, 87, 163
Southend
Southend
Essex
Essex
Grieve p. 568
Holland p. 8
Southend
Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Summers pp. 86, 87, 163
Barsby (no date) p. 8
Barsby (1997) p. 8
Cracknell p. 46
2
2
2
2
Jaywick
Point Clear Bay
Point Clear Bay
Point Clear Bay
2
2
3
1
at
least 1
6
6
6
6
2
2
58
2
58
at
least 1
2
58
58
58
6
Drowned pp. 75, 85.
Drowning p. 568.
Told as a story of two
drownings, not given as a
death toll.
Drowning.
Drowning while collecting
goods for the landlady at the
Creeksea Ferry Inn.
1 Drowned, 1 not specified p.
85. Both drowned p. 86.
Drowning.
Drowned, pp. 85, 86.
Drowning.
Drowning and exposure.
Drowning.
4 drowned, 2 “later died in
hospital from shock and
exposure” p. 87
Shock and exposure.
“from a heart attack after
having fallen out of bed into
the water”
1 shock, 1 pneumonia p. 87.
58
58
Canvey Island
Essex
Grieve pp. 565, 568
Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Essex
Essex
Harland and Harland p. 24, 40
Holland p. 11
Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Canvey Island
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Ogley et al. pp. 83, 96
Plaque outside library (see below).
Pollard pp. 65, 112
Summers pp. 86, 89, 163
Canvey Island
Tilbury
Tilbury
West Ham
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
White p. 73
Grieve p. 568
Summers pp. 86, 90, 163
Grieve p. 568
Canning Town, West
Ham
Belvedere marshes
Whitstable
Essex
Summers pp. 90-91, 163
Kent
Kent
Summers p. 95
http://www.whitstablemuseum.co.uk/maritime/flood.html on 5
November 2002
58
58
58
58
58
1
1
1
1
58
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
304
313
Total for deaths on land in England
7
Drowning, shock, exposure,
and accident pp. 565, 568.
Quoting a newspaper article,
many “died from asphyxia by
drowning…[others] from the
shock of immersion” and one
from broken neck.
Drowned, shock, or exposure
pp. 88, 89-90.
Drowning.
Drowned pp. 86, 90.
Asphyxiation by gas from
fractured main.
“coal gas escaping from a
fractured main” p. 91.
No one else in Kent died p. 95.
Other Deaths
http://www.wrecksite.eu/wrecksite.aspx?lan=en provides information on the wrecks.
deaths deaths
deaths
Event
Location
Source
Notes
low
high
133
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Austin, personal communication
Wreck found.
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Cameron
136
(http://www.colourpoint.co.uk/titles/1904242
014-3.html on 4 December 2002)
132
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Grieve p. 79
132
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Harland and Harland p. 23
132
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Ogley et al. p. 78
121
136
132
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Pollard p. 20
132
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
Summers pp. 28, 162
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
http://www.rmstitanichistory.com/victoria/vic
121
toria.html on 4 December 2002
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
http://www.searcher.dircon.co.uk/Princess%2
133
0Victoria.htm on 4 December 2002
Princess Victoria (ferry) Irish Sea
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/feeder
134
s3.html on 4 December 2002
13
Michael Griffiths
Scotland
Austin, personal communication
Michael Griffiths
Barra Head,
Harland and Harland p. 23
No trace ever found.
15
(trawler)
Hebrides
Michael Griffiths
Outer
Summers p. 162
15
(trawler)
Hebrides
Scottish fishing fleet
Scotland
Harland and Harland p. 23
“More than a quarter of the
Scottish fishing fleet was lost”.
17
19
Scottish fishing fleet
Scotland
Summers p. 28
“28 per cent of the Scottish
fishing fleet was lost”.
2
Islay lifeboatmen
Scotland
Austin, personal communication
15 “fishermen” and 2
Scotland
Hickey p. 283, see also pp. 292-293
“lifeboatmen” off Islay
19
along with 2 “fishermen”
off Lerwick
8
Aspo
22
22
22
Catharina Duyvis
16
16
16
5
5
5
Leopold Nera
Salland
7
7
7
Sheldon
14
14
14
Yewvalley
11
11
11
A few
kilometres
west of
Jutland,
Denmark
16 kilometres
west of
Bergen aan
Zee, the
Netherlands
North Sea
27 kilometres
west of
Egmond aan
Zee, the
Netherlands
North
Atlantic
somewhere
between
Shetland and
the Faroes. A
lifeboat
washed
ashore on
Shetland
North Sea,
probably east
of Cromer,
UK
Austin, personal communication
Goedbloed, personal communication
Boat registered in Stockholm,
Sweden. Wreck found.
Austin, personal communication
Goedbloed, personal communication
Boat registered in IJmuiden,
Netherlands. ID: IJM60.
Wreck found.
Austin, personal communication
Goedbloed, personal communication
Austin, personal communication
Goedbloed, personal communication
Boat registered in Zeebrugge,
Belgium. ID: Z727.
Boat registered in Delfzijl,
Netherlands. Wreck found.
Austin, personal communication
Boat registered in Grimsby,
England.
Austin, personal communication
Goedbloed, personal communication
Boat registered in Glasgow,
Scotland.
9
Westland
10
10
10
Guava
11
11
11
234
251
11
Guava (trawler)
11
Guava (trawler)
Total for other deaths
North Sea,
north of
Terschelling,
Netherlands
North Sea.
Position
during last
radio contact
was halfway
between
Holland and
England.
North Sea
North Sea
Goedbloed, personal communication
Boat registered in Rotterdam,
the Netherlands. Wreck
found.
Austin, personal communication
Goedbloed, personal communication
Boat registered in Lowestoft,
England.
Harland and Harland p. 35
Pollard pp. 42, 44
No trace ever found.
No trace ever found.
Other Statements on Death Tolls
deaths
65
65
65
over 60
61
61
65
almost 100
Location
Hunstanton to King’s Lynn
Hunstanton and Snettisham
Hunstanton, Heacham,
Snettisham
King’s Lynn to Hunstanton
between Hunstanton and
King’s Lynn
south of Hunstanton
County
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
Source
Grieve p. 86
Harland and Harland pp. 24, 30
Ogley et al. p. 77
Norfolk
Norfolk
Pollard p. 32
Pollard p. 75
Norfolk
Hunstanton, Heacham,
Snettisham
Norfolk
Pollard p. 34 quoting the county
planning officer.
Summers pp. 75, 77, 162
Norfolk and
Suffolk
Ogley et al. p. 78
10
Notes
Drowned.
Drowned.
Geographic scope is not clear.
Drowned pp. 75, 77.
59
more than 119
119
119
Thames-side
south Essex implied p. 5
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex
Essex implied
EA p. 2
Grieve p. 177
Grieve p. 568.
Harland and Harland p. 37
Holland pp. 5,11
68
113
307
c. 350
over 350
350
307
over 300
307
Essex
Implied total along east coast of England
Total in England
Total in England
Total in England
Total
Implied total for Britain
Implied total for eastern England
Summers p. 82
Harland and Harland p. 25
Hickey p. 285
Hickey p. 289
Lamb p. 170
Ogley et al. p. 78
Pollard pp. 8, 69, 70
Summers pp. 7, 64
11
Drowned.
This number is meaningless, because the
geographic scope is unclear. In the article,
Holland reports deaths in various locations
and the numbers add up to 104.
Drowned.
Drowned
Drowned p. 8.
Plaques
12
Sources
Austin, N. 2003. Personal communication based on her findings mainly from Lloyd’s list of ships lost at sea around the British Isles. This research
was completed for the BBC Timewatch programme “The Greatest Storm”, directed by James Hayes and first broadcast on 31 October 2003.
Barsby (1), G. No date. 1953 Remembered: Canvey Floods. Geoff Barsby, Canvey Island, Essex.
Barsby (2), G. (compiler). 1997. Canvey Island (The Archive Photographs Series). Tempus Publishing, Gloucestershire, U.K.
Cameron, S. 2002. Death in the North Channel: The Loss of the Princess Victoria, January 1953. Colourpoint Books, Newtownards, Northern
Ireland.
Cracknell, B.E. 1959. Canvey Island: The History of a Marshland Community. Occasional Papers No. 12, edited by H.P.R. Finsberg, Department of
English Local History, Leicester, The University Press.
EA. 1999. Thames Tidal Defences: The Development of Flood Protection Along the Thames Estuary. EA (Environment Agency), Bristol.
Document AN-11/99-1K-D-BEUR.
Goedbloed, J. 2009. Personal communication based on his own research.
Grieve, H. 1959. The Great Tide. The County Council of Essex, Essex, U.K.
Harland, M.G. and H.J. Harland. 1980. The Flooding of Eastern England. Minimax Books, Peterborough, U.K.
Hickey, K. R. 2001. “The Storm of 31 January to 1 February 1953 and its Impact on Scotland”. Scottish Geographical Journal, vol. 117, no. 4, pp.
283-295.
Holland, M. “Terror in the Night! The 1953 North Sea Surge and its Effects on the Essex Coastal Community”. Essex Journal, Spring 2003, vol. 38,
no. 1, pp. 5-12.
Lamb, H.H. Historic storms of the North Sea, British Isles and Northwest Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Ogley, B., M. Davison, and I. Currie. 1993. The Norfolk and Suffolk Weather Book. Froglets Publications, Kent, U.K.
13
Pollard, M. 1978. North Sea Surge: The Story of the East Coast Floods of 1953. Terence Dalton Limited, Lavenham and Suffolk, U.K.
Summers, D. 1978. The East Coast Floods. David & Charles (Publishers) Limited, London, U.K.
Tooke, C. (compiler). 1996. Great Yarmouth: A Second Selection with Gorleston and Caister (The Archive Photographs Series). Chalford
Publishing, Gloucestershire, U.K.
White, P. 1999. The River - A Thames Journey. BBC Publications, London, U.K.
14