The new town and the factories being built drew a protest poem in 1937 from John Betjeman, called "Slough", beginning ""Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough..."". Ironically, during the Second World War, the town, which also became home to an Emergency Hospital for casualties from London, experienced a series of air raids, most frequently in October 1940. Local air raid deaths and a smaller number of deaths at the Emergency Hospital account for the 23 civilian lives recorded lost in Slough Municipal Borough.