5th Anniversary of the London July Bombings

Who are these 3 young women?


Anna Brandt


Karolina Gluck - - - - -Monika Suchocka
& boyfriend






All three of these fresh faced young women were on the fateful Piccadilly Line train between Kings Cross and Russell Square during the fateful 7th July bombing in 2005. All 3 died unknown to each other but united by a common fate.


It reminds me of what I wrote about them in my book "Hello I'm Your Polish Neighbour" 3 years ago on the Second Anniversary of this cataclysmic event.

This year the event seems to have had no official recognition, either by the Government or the Mayor of London. I cannot believe that Tessa Jowell or Ken Livingstone would have let it be forgotten like this.

I shall reproduce the text here:-

"July 6th 2007 – Towards A Bitter Second Anniversary


We are approaching the second anniversary of the London bombings on July 7th. It is a time for sad reflection for every Londoner, and unfortunately also for renewed vigilance.
Nothing underlines the close integration of young Poles into the daily fabric of the London scene more starkly than the fact the largest number of victims of foreign nationality who died on that dreadful day were Polish.
Three young Polish women, unknown to each other, all perished on the Piccadilly Line between Kings Cross and Russell Square.
Nearest to her destination at the time of the explosion was 29 year old Karolina Gluck who worked as a college receptionist. She was every inch a Londoner. She had a black fiancé, wore a metal St George Cross in her bully button and her friends called her “Sunshine” because of her sunny disposition.
Younger still was 23 year old pretty Monika Suchocka, an economics graduate and trainee accountant, who lived in a cramped flat with 2 friends in North London. She loved to sing and had found the time during her 2 month stay in London to join a choir.
Anna Brandt was 41 and she was on her way to Hammersmith where she worked as a cleaner. One of her two grown-up daughters had just arrived in London and she was looking forward to meeting her. Anna had ambitions too. She aimed to earn enough money to bring over her husband and start up a restaurant business in West London.
These were not the only losses that the Polish community suffered on July 7th. One of the victims on the bombed No. 30 bus in Tavistock Square was Giles Hart, a former Chairman of the Polish Solidarity Campaign. He was married to a Polish wife who was the head of a Polish Saturday school in East London. He was posthumously awarded a Knights Cross of Merit by the Polish President.
Giles had been no stranger to Hammersmith as many of the campaign meetings he chaired took place in POSK on King Street where he also founded the Polish Refugees Rights Group.
Aspiring young Poles continue to live, work (and die) unseen and unheard amongst us fellow Londoners. "


This text reminds me that my friend Naomi Hyamson, former Secretary of the Polish Solidarity Campaign, was able to lay flowers at the memorial stone we erected for Giles hart in Ravenscourt Park.
Here is a picture of the memorial stone. You can still pay your respects to the memory of Giles hart and other victims today or in the weekend. I shall certainly go.