On Wednesday dozens gathered to honour the courage of ordinary men who lost their lives 70 years ago when two Nazi bombs decimated the South Croydon bus garage.

By the morning of May 11, 1941 the bus garage was a smoking ruin and seven people had lost their lives. Countless others worked to restore a full service after an exhausting night risking their lives to rescue trapped colleagues and buses.

The tragedy and heroism of that fateful evening were remembered at the memorial, as relatives of those involved and bus drivers past and present gathered to see a commemorative plaque unveiled.

Betty Maskell, who was born on Old Palace Road and has lived in Croydon all her life, was particularly moved by the memorial. The 80-year-old lost her father in the attack. He worked as a cleaner at the garage and he bravely tried to warn his colleagues the bombers were upon them.

The great-grandmother of six said: “I was nine years old at the time and I remember hearing the planes overhead and the bombs being dropped. It was frightening. We did not live too far away from the station and when we heard the explosions, my mum knew straight away the garage had been hit.

“My father was on duty, spotting for planes that night. He saw them coming and rushed down to warn his colleagues but it was too late and he got trapped under a bus in the bombs.

“He was in hospital for six months. He had gangrene in the leg that was trapped. The doctors told him they needed to amputate, but he refused to let them do it because he was crippled down his other side. He would not let them cut it off, and he died. He was 59.”

Mrs Maskell’s mother, like many others, became a war widow and was faced with the responsibility of providing for Betty and her two younger sisters. They had an older brother who had enlisted and was fighting on the front.

She followed in her husbands footsteps and began working at the bus garage in the canteen where she stayed for many years.

Mrs Maskell, who was put into service soon after the war ended and spent the rest of her life working as a nanny, said: “I am just so pleased about today. I have never heard anyone else talk about honouring these men and I am glad that they have finally been recognised. They were very very brave, I am so proud of my father.”

The family of Bill Maile, who died in 2006 aged 100, was also at the memorial. His daughter Barbara and her husband Glyn Price with his grandson Gary Woodward speak proudly about the night the bus driver raced from the safety of his air raid shelter at home to the garage where he tried to rescue some of the 110 fully fueled buses. He drove many out of the inferno, ignoring the thick smoke, raging heat and bursting tyres as row upon row of the vehicles caught alight.

Mrs Price said she was “speechless” with emotion about the plaque and that her father would have been proud to see it.

“My father lived and breathed buses, it was his life. He often spoke about that night,” she said.

The special plaque was unveiled by the Mayor of Croydon Avril Slipper who praised the “brave souls” of that night and a short prayer of dedication was read out.

The memorial was organised by bus driver Freddie Soper who said he was proud the men had finally been honoured for their actions.