80 years since the bombing of Newbury
It was an ordinary day in Newbury on Wednesday, February 10, 1943. The shops shut early on Wednesdays and schools had finished for the day.
That was until a lone German bomber began wreaking havoc on the small market town.
Local dignitaries, residents and school pupils gathered for a quiet ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the Bombing of Newbury at the memorial opposite St John's Church on Wednesday (February 8) – where the first bomb fell.
Early bombing raids had struck Newbury in November 1940 and March 1941. But the town largely avoided the carnage endured in other areas such as London, Portsmouth and Coventry.
But then a sudden and seemingly random attack occurred in 1943. As the all clear sounded, 15 people lie dead with more than 41 injured, many seriously.
Two Luftwaffe Dornier 217E-4 bombers from Holland were following the Great Western Railway west when they reached Reading.
One bomber dropped four 500kg high explosives on the town centre, destroying the popular People's Pantry restaurant and killing a staggering 41 people in total.
Paddington Bear author Michael Bond was installing a radio transmitter on top of the pantry at the time.
The other bomber veered off towards Newbury, reaching the town around 4.35pm – only leaving time for a quick siren. It dropped four 500kg bombs and several smaller explosives.
The first bomb ripped through Southampton Terrace, on the edge of Newtown Road – now marked with an information panel.
The second destroyed a first aid post and St John's Church, built in 1860, leaving only the front, the altar and a sign intact.
The third bomb hit Madiera Terrace, wiping out the row of St Bartholomew's almshouses – where the Fair Close Day Centre is today.
And the fourth large bomb struck the Senior County School, killing five people, including three schoolchildren who had stayed behind to help. The school had been full only a little while earlier.
Hundreds of properties sustained damage, many being demolished later.
"By that day, we thought the war had passed us by," recalled Allan Mercado, then a 10-year-old boy. He had hidden under a sofa at his house in Westgate Road when the siren sounded.
Mr Mercado gave a talk on the bombings at the Fair Close Day Centre on Friday (February 10), where residents still hold vivid recollections or family connections to that fateful day.
Opinions vary on why the bomber targeted Newbury, ranging from it being a nuisance raid; targeting the railway station, or simply the result of confusing Newbury with Reading.
Another theory suggests the bomber became lost and jettisoned its payload – unlikely given the knowing risk it took flying below cloud cover in unfamiliar enemy territory. But this could also have been to avoid radar detection.
Three smaller 50kg bombs detonated around the premises of Plenty's Eagle Ironworks in Cheap Street – where the Kennet Shopping Centre stands today.
The firm produced parts for a classified mine detector system used by Royal Navy escorts to locate German U-Boats – meaning it may have been a target.
But it is uncertain whether German intelligence knew about this operation given the strict period censorship on all communication.
Newspaper reports were scant on detail. The Newbury Weekly News issue published a day after the attack reported only that a 'market town' had been targeted.
Surviving photographs of the devastation were captured by ARP warden and later mayor of Newbury Jack Hole and American servicemen garrisoned at RAF Greenham Common.
These should not have been taken.
Home Guard, Civil Defence, residents and US airmen all rushed to the bomb sites to rescue survivors and clear rubble. Others set up temporary first aid posts and opened their homes to displaced victims.
The names of the dead feature in the Imperial War Graves Commission's Roll of Honour at Westminster Abbey.
These are:
Sylvia Bishop, 13,
James Brown, 36,
Joyce Petrony, 14,
Herbert Purdy, 12,
Mildred Reid , 46,
Daniel Benham, 84,
Mary Benham, 78,
Amos Cooper, 82,
Mary Cooper, 84,
Clara Singlehurst, 83,
Herbert Singlehurst, 76,
Jane Symes, 68,
Amy Spender, 54,
Kathleen Spender, 50,
and Ethel Wallin, 49.
Both Dornier crews also joined the list of casualties.
RAF Spitfires shot down two Dorniers near Bognor Regis – supposedly the bombers that targeted Newbury.
Jack Hole recovered an unexploded bomb from the Falkland Arms Hotel on Bartholomew Street – now the Kennet Shopping Centre. Two other bombs also failed to explode.
The fin stayed in Mr Hole's shop, The Tudor Café, in Northbrook Street, until being transferred to West Berkshire Museum.
St John's Church was rebuilt in 1955 in response to growing public demand by architect, Stephen Dykes-Bower.
A unique feature are the stained glass windows above the altar. Designer AE Buss created the geometric patterns from glass fragments retrieved from the original church and other bombed out churches.
The bombing victims joined the rest of Newbury's war dead in a communal grave at Shaw Cemetery.
Survivors lived on with physical and mental scars of that tragic day.
