
His son and daughter, aged eight and 14, are invited to the Lord Mayor's children' party in November.īecause this event was recorded in multiple media reports at the time it happened, and because those media reports verify the details in popular memes about the incident, the claim is "True.
Double decker bus london free#
In June he and his family will take a week's free holiday at Bournemouth hotel - the first holiday for five years. His prompt action saved nine lives won him a £10 reward from his employers and £35 from the City Corporation, who run Tower Bridge. 78 bus was caught on a rising arm of Tower Bridge.
Double decker bus london driver#
WITHOUT pretending that he wants the same experience again, Driver Albert Gunter, of London Transport, is thankful for the benefits that have resulted from his presence of mind last December. As reported in the Evening Telegraph in April 1953, Gunter was awarded both vacation time, money, and other gifts for his actions: That report appeared to have exonerated Gunter, who was hailed a hero in the press just a few months later. An official of the City of London Corporation committee who control Tower Bridge, said today, "The committee will have a report made to them on the incident and will consider whether any further steps should be taken." It had sufficient speed to bridge the gap, but the rear wheels must have fallen with quite a jolt."Ī relief man was operating the bridge at the time. RT 2819 is the first and only London double-decker known to be converted into a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) fueled bus. The superintendent engineer of the bridge said, "The bus came unnoticed onto the bridge as it was just on the move. He did not see or hear any danger signal.Ī City Police inspector said that the usual warning signals were given. The bus driver, Albert Gunter … said that the traffic lights were green as he drove across the bridge. The main question people were asking today was "Why did it happen?" When the bridge is being opened, a warning is given by red traffic lights and the ringing of a handbell by a bridge operator.


The driver carried on and the bus fell about three or four feet from one half of the bridge to the other. The bridge opened as the bus was in the centre of the two sections. T-shirts, posters, stickers, home decor, and more, designed and sold by independent. TOWER BRIDGE OPENED AS BUS WAS CROSSING: INQUIRY TODAYĪN INQUIRY was being held today into the opening of Tower Bridge as a bus was crossing it last night. Recognised all around the world as one of Londons principal icons, the red double-decker bus is a well-known symbol of the British capital and provides a. High quality London Double Decker Bus-inspired gifts and merchandise. Just like the London Underground, these buses are one of the. Today, the story is popular in meme form:Īll the details included in this popular meme are true, as they were recorded contemporaneously in news reports. The red double-decker bus is one of the most iconic features of London and with good reason. 30, 1952, a London city bus found itself in a precarious position: driving over the Tower Bridge as it opened to allow passage of a boat below. Journeys might be longer or shorter depending on the traffic.Some memes misspell the driver's last name as "Gunton," but the story is otherwise accurate.

