The day a London bus jumped Tower Bridge to avoid disaster
Share:
Of all the trivia about London’s iconic public transport, one example sounds a little too extroardinary to be true. A few days after Christmas 1952, a London bus jumped the gap between the two halves of Tower Bridge’s road section after it started to open.
![[17th June 1952: A party of schoolchildren on board the 'Kingwood' sailing up the River Thames on an educational trip to learn more about the historic Thames. Tower Bridge can be seen in the background. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_234231937-a82b.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
If something similar happened today, it might sound like a publicity stunt. But for driver Albert Gunter it was more or less a matter of life or death. His number 78 bus was travelling northwards on the bridge’s southern bascule when it started to rise.
![[Mandatory Credit: Photo by ANL/REX/Shutterstock (4779908a) Bus Driver Albert Gunter Who Drove Across Tower Bridge As It Was Opening. Box 0557 040315 00215a.jpg. Bus Driver Albert Gunter Who Drove Across Tower Bridge As It Was Opening. (for Full Caption See Version) Box 0557 040315 00215a.jpg.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_234231970-831a-e1735167234106.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘It seemed as though the roadway in front of me was falling away,’ Mr Gunter would later say. In those days, a gateman was supposed to ring a warning bell to confirm the bridge was clear, after which another watchman would order it to be raised. But on December 30th 1952,the process failed, and Mr Gunter faced a difficult choice: stop the bus, and hope someone noticed before it began slipping backwards, or head on.
![[LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 26: Tower Bridge, one of the symbolic structures of the capital left hanging open during the maintenance period on August 26, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. Bridge closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic until Monday, 28 August due to maintenance works.. (Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_234231972-e7fe.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘I realized that the part we were on was rising. It was horrifying,’ he said in an interview a couple of weeks after the incident. ‘I felt we had to keep on or we might be flung into the river. So I accelerated.’. His quick thinking allowed the bus to reach the northern bascule, despite reaching a speed of just 12mph.
![[Smiling bus driver holding ten ?1 notes is Albert Edward Gunter, who 'jumped the gap' when London's Tower Bridge opened while his bus was crossing it. The reward, presented at London Transport headquarters in Westminster by John B. Burnell, Operating Manager of London Transport's Central Road Services, was a gift from the Board to mark his heroism.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_234231969-d660.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro's London news hub. The horizontal gap was not very wide, as the northern bascule had not yet begun to rise, but the vertical drop was around six feet. Twelve of the twenty passengers aboard received minor injuries, while Mr Gunter broke his leg.
