This article is a set of three recollections of a day in October 1940 when bombs fell on Framlingham.
This article has been provided in a collection by Bob Blastock, who died in 2021, and given to the Lanman Museum by his widow Doreen.
Bombs in College Road
By A. J. Martin
There are still people in Framlingham who can remember the town during the Second World War. As with all major events, certain memories never leave us. Sometimes, however, our power of recall plays us tricks, and indisputable evidence which is brought to bear later on shows us that things were not always quite what we thought they had been.
The bare facts of the bombing of Framlingham in this particular air-raid are that at lunchtime on Sunday, October 6th, 1940, an aircraft arrived and dropped a stick of bombs. One person was killed. The purpose of this article is to enlarge on these statements by way of information which I have gleaned from those who witnessed the event. There may be readers who think they remember a different account, and it is hoped that they will contact the Editor’s Correspondence page with corrections or additions to what follows here.
By the autumn of 1940, the Battle of Britain was almost over, and Germany started to turn its attention to a prolonged bombing campaign upon England.
At about 1.30 p.m. on October 6th, a Dornier bomber came out of the clouds at Parham. (This was, of course, long before the Americans established their base there). It came in low over the land, and some women in the open raced to find shelter for their children. The aeroplane did not open fire on them, but there was a search-light nearby and it saved its ammunition for that. The search-light was protected by an anti-aircraft gun nearby, and this swung round to engage the enemy. However, the gun jammed and the aircraft flew on towards Framlingham unscathed,
The Dornier arrived over Framlingham at the top end of Fore Street. It then turned over the town towards the west and dropped a high explosive bomb in the Saleyard. (This was a livestock market which was situated where The Elms sheltered accommodation and car park is now built). The next bomb fell in front of the Hitcham’s Almshouses and damaged the length of the roof from the porch northwards. The third bomb fell behind the Almshouses, causing more damage to the roof on the west side. The fourth exploded harmlessly in open ground between the Almshouses and College Road where the Primary School playground now lies.
There is a brand-new, red-brick house on the east side of College Road, just below the road’s bottleneck. But in 1940, a house stood there which was occupied by Miss Caroline Amelia Harvey1. She was head of the Sir Robert Hitcham’s Infants School, which very small children entered before they went up into the Boys or Girls Schools. Usually, Miss Harvey attended Church on a Sunday, and then went to her sister’s for lunch. But on this day, she was slightly unwell and stayed at home. She was mending her stockings when her house suffered a direct hit from the fifth bomb.
These bombs were of a size that carried relatively small blast power. They tended not to scatter debris over a wide area, but rather to cause a house to collapse from the blast. Consequently, when they found Miss Harvey, she still sat in her chair: a stocking over one hand and a needle and thread in the other. She was sixty-two years old. Her funeral notice appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times on the following Tuesday, saying that she died “suddenly”, and that her funeral would be held in St. Michael’s Church at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday.
The sixth bomb demolished the middle of five cottages in a terrace on the west side of College Road. The occupant was, fortunately, not at home. This ground was cleared some time after the raid, but whether as a direct consequence of it is not known. It remained empty for over sixty years, but currently a developer is erecting a terrace of three small dwellings.
A lady, then a girl, who lived in the lower of the three old cottages on the east side of the road in the bottleneck said she witnessed the bombing of this property. She said she was waiting for Sunday School when the bomb dropped, but she “didn’t take much notice of it”.
The seventh bomb fell harmlessly in the allotments where now Norfolk Crescent stands. Notwithstanding the limited blast power of the bombs in this raid, a large clod of earth was blown out of the allotments, and made a trajectory northwards until it entered the roof of the cottage behind the post-box at the corner of Mount Pleasant and College Road. It landed on the living room floor, and the present occupant says that the resulting repair to the ceiling can still be seen.
No-one, it seems, can bear witness to more than seven explosions. However, there is a book in the Suffolk Record Office in which the Police recorded where bombs fell, parish by parish, and in what numbers. Up until October 31st 1941, eight high explosive bombs had fallen on Framlingham. It is unlikely that just one further HE bomb was dropped on Framlingham over the next fortnight and, in fact, through the whole war only twenty-two HE bombs in total fell on the parish – which included open countryside. It would appear, therefore, that the Dornier dropped a further, eighth, bomb on that Sunday, and a resident of Norfolk Crescent has recently told me that he has heard a rumour than there is still an unexploded bomb in that vicinity.
There are differing accounts of what happened after the bombs had been dropped. Some say that the aeroplane disappeared into the clouds, anxious to get home. Others say that it machine-gunned a group of small boys but did not hit them. The EastAnglian Daily Times reports such an occurrence, but due to the security restrictions, the location of the boys is not given. Someone said that the plane turned back over Framlingham and machine-gunned the Hitcham’s School. Others say that it shot some tiles out of the roof between the fourth and fifth bombs, and that one can see today where some tiles have been replaced. It was also said at the time that the crew may have been relatively inexperienced and wished to off-load their bombs and get home. We do not know where they had come from nor whether they had dropped bombs on the way to Framlingham or, indeed, afterwards-
One might also wonder why, having arrived at Framlingham and seeing it all spread out below them, the crew waited until they were almost over the town before bombing it. They could have caused enormous damage between Fore Street and New Road with seven or eight bombs. Certainly during the First World War it was soon discovered, to the cost of the observers atop them, that churches made wonderful look-out posts, and they were soon attacked to remove this vantage point.
The Germans would surely have seen the gasometers in Albert Road. Considerable secondary damage would have been caused by a direct hit on this site.
Possibly, the crew may not have recognised the school as such, but if they had, they would have known it to be unoccupied on a Sunday.
It is probably not easy to kill people with a machine gun from an aeroplane, especially one less wieldy than a fighter, but if there was a group of small boys who were shot at, I wonder if the crew really tried hard to kill them’or merely to frighten them for fun. The war was yet young, and the gunner and the bomb-aimer may themselves have been fathers from a small town like Framlingham. Perhaps they were slightly apprehensive about what they might have been sent to do.
Military activity increased rapidly in Framlingham from this raid onwards. There was a searchlight near Lampard Brook and there were military installations on Castle Meadow. As in all towns and villages, there was a Home Guard, and soldiers were sometimes billeted in homes.
Miss Harvey’s house was cleared away and the site then left empty until recently. Before the builder cleared the garden, I found there and bought from him an ornamental flower-planter on a pedestal. I would like to think that Miss Harvey placed bulbs in that planter just before she died, and I am pleased that her name is recorded on the new house.
Mrs. Nancy Bowen’s Memories
On Sunday, October 6th 1940, a small enemy aircraft carrying a ‘stick’ of 5 bombs managed to sneak through the East Suffolk coast-line defences; then, following the road from Saxmundham, headed straight for Framlingham. It was shortly after 1 p.m. and it spotted some servicemen enjoying a bit of amateur football on “The Bounds”, behind the newly-constructed N.A.A.F.I. (now – 1977 – run as a Store and Offices by Framlingham Farmers, in New Road). The pilot just missed his target, so the first bomb landed near Hitcham’s Almshouses, causing a small amount o damage but no casualties. The second bomb fell directly on to the Hitcham’s School (Infants) Head Teacher’s home, which was occupied by Miss Caroline Harvey (see the footnote below). It had been her regular custom to attend St. Michael’s Church morning service at 11 a.m., where she would meet her sister, Mrs. Isaac Larter, and they would walk together to “Hatherleigh House” Farm, stay for lunch and tea, return for 6.30 p.m. Evensong at Church, before returning to her College Road home.
By a strange coincidence she failed to follow her usual plan, and remained at home that day. So it was, that the second bomb completely destroyed her home and killed her outright. Nearby houses had roof-tiles broken, and windows cracked. “The Hermitage” – now known as 37 College Road – which is exactly opposite the disaster area, was badly damaged. Here, Mrs. Charles Nesling was bedridden, being terminally ill with lung cancer. Her bedroom ceiling caved in, the window was blown out, and bed and floor were covered with broken glass, yet she said there was just a narrow pathway for her to get out of bed, and make her way to the top of the stairs. Meanwhile, her husband had been blown into the fireplace downsairs, burning his hand on the hot coals. It was a sad sight to see them sitting halfway down the stairs of their home where they had lived for 42 years, and had brought up their five children. Their eldest son, Cecil, rushed over from Wickham Market, and took his Mother back to his home. However, she expressed a wish to go home to die. Messrs. Moore Bros. propped up the bedroom ceiling, fixed a new window, and she returned two days later. Her wish was fulfilled by her death on October 16th.
The third small bomb fell in the garden area of a cottage which if still in existence (and they are not) would have been Nos. 53 and 55 College Road.
The fourth and fifth bombs, fell, exploded and left deep bomb-holes on some open ground of the Church-owned allotments. That was before Norfolk Crescent materialised.
There was another fatal bombing raid which took place at night in Albert Road, when three people were killed2. While Percy Stannard was away visiting his daughter, Gwen, a bomb destroyed his home, killing his wife (Anna Maria), teenage son and a little three year old son.
(The approximate date may be recorded on their gravestones, or found in the Parish Records that were recently exhibited in Church.)
It should be noted that Hitcham’s School was not destroyed by a bomb, as often reported. After its pupils had been transferred to the new Area School in 1937, it was carefully demolished by local builders before the War had even started. The present
Primary School Teacher’s Office was left as part of the old building, and has been extended to form the present Primary School classrooms.
On one occasion, two Barrage Balloons that were used to prevent low-flying enemy aircraft from coming in, got loose – so two British planes were sent to puncture them, and they were then brought down behind the College.
The first “doodlebug” to be seen over Framlingham, came down in daylight on Framlingham Hall land, and did little or no damage.
Many pill-boxes were built in this area. One was at the bottom of Fore Street. Another was on the Market Hill; and a static water-tank was also built there so that water would be quickly available to quell any fire that might occur due to enemy action.
A substantial brick and cement air-raid shelter was built on Market Hill, in front of Barclays Bank. It was once used as a concert platform! Inside, it made a marvellous dressing-room; a small portable organ was brought out on a barrow-like vehicle, and the shelter roof was used for performances by single dancers and vocal soloists. Collections in aid of War charities were then made amongst the crowds of onlookers.
The Time Machine – A letter from the past
Tony Moore February 2004
A dramatic story of an 8 year old girl about a day in October 1940 when the German air force decided to pay an unwanted visit to the sleepy market town of Framlingham.
I was just a child of 8, and getting ready for Sunday School, my mother pushed me to the floor and shouted to my father “get down they’re dropping bombs.” She had been washing up the dinner crockery at the kitchen sink, and thought the plane she could hear was making a strange noise, and looked up in time to see it was flying over. We were very sound conscious in those days and could recognise planes by their sound as well as their silhouettes. We used to cut out the profiles, printed in the daily newspaper and pin them to the kitchen wall (kind of an Observer Corps in embryo). As far as I can remember this particular plane was a Heinkel bomber3.
There was a great commotion, the front door blew in hitting my father on the head and knocking him under the table. He crawled through to the kitchen on all fours with the door still on his back. Much shaken and bruised but glad to say not seriously hurt apart from his pride.
Meanwhile my mother got up to let our neighbours, Mrs Creasy, a World War One widow and her sister Miss Harriet Capon in. At that moment she shouted “get down he’s coming back.” Machine gun bullets rained down, this seemed more terrifying than the bombs dropped a few seconds earlier. Several of the bullets came to rest in the door lintel above my mother’s head. She said she could see the men in the plane as it flew overhead for this the second time.
It was strangely quiet for a while, I suspect everyone living nearby was wondering if he was coming back yet again to drop more bombs and fire more bullets.
My grandparents, who lived opposite at 45 College Road, were both deaf, and when father was sure that we were alright, dad picked his way through the rubble, glass and broken wires up my grandparents’ garden path. They were sitting in their armchairs as if nothing had happened, one of them said “my word boy, that wind hasn’t half got up,’ dad said he had to laugh.
There had been a direct hit on the School House, 2 doors down from us. Crowds were beginning to gather and rescueres were desperately searching in the rubble for Miss Caroline Harvey, our much loved and respected school teacher (see the footnote below). Mr Harry (Glory) Carr was in charge of the fire brigade; my dad and Mr Ransome were leading firemen in the town’s fire service. Mr Len Wardley was there, I belive he was the chief air raid warden at the time, along with many people trying to help.
I remember thinking “she’s not there, she’s gone to the Larter’s for her Sunday dinner”. A Mrs Harvey from Saxtead Road and her daughter Joan were there and I can remember putting my hand on her arm and saying “don’t worry she usually goes up to Mr Larter’s for her Sunday lunch”. how precocious can you get?
We all prayed she was out but sadly this lovely lady so much a part of many lives had been killed. A little further up College Road on the opposite side, Mr & Mrs Banthorpe were eating their Sunday lunch when the bombs fell; because of the pattern of the dropped bombs they were sitting at the table virtually unhurt among the rubble. Mrs Banthorpe had a cut on her forehead, but they were very badly shaken. Had the raid taken place a little later College Road would have had many children making their way to Sunday School. I’ve always said it seemed like a mini- miracle. Sadly we lost Miss Harvey, but bricks & mortor are replaceable, even though sometimes it takes 60 years.
The above was from a letter written by my cousin Mrs Rita Miller (nee Moore)
(7 bombs exploded, some say there was an 8th which didn’t explode – I hope they were wrong, otherwise someone is in for a rude awakening.)
Footnote
- The story of Caroline Harvey, and Harvey House, is told in more detail in another article. ↩︎
- This was an incendiary bomb attack on 25th June 1942. ↩︎
- The German plane was a lone Dornier 111/K76 medium bomber with a bomb pay load of 1,000kg capacity, the actual bombs dropped were a 50kg type. ↩︎
It should also be noted that in the final count, a total of 8 bombs were dropped in this raid, all of which exploded.