The incident happened on the 22nd May 1941, and there is a account of what happened that day written in this article.
These are some quotes from this account:
"Only two enemy planes reached England on that day, one in Wiltshire and one here in Sussex. The German bomber came in over Shoreham at 4.45 in the afternoon dropping bombs at Henfield and Lindfield, then at Chailey/Scaynes Hill and it reached Newick at about 5 o’clock."
"The bomb fell on Dove Cottage opposite the garage with a massive explosion, blasting lime tree branches through the air. After the sound of breaking glass with rubble and tiles falling there was silence. Then came the voices of the frightened people, gradually seeing the damage caused."
"The chemist’s shop ‘Oddie and Whitby’, by the garage, was damaged and inside on the floor surrounded by broken glass was the dead chemist, 62 years-old Percy James Horsley. Broken glass had hit the back of his neck. The blast had lifted and damaged the roof of Terry’s garage and the staff there were injured from flying glass. One of the mechanics Cecil Holman had been trying to get to the air raid shelter at the back. The walls and roof of Bannister’s shop and post office were damaged and the windows were all shattered. Rubble and glass lie over the pavements. Staff had injuries. Mr Carter had intended to dive underneath a lorry for protection but was pleased that he hadn’t because the lorry had rubble scattered all around and under it and the concrete had lifted and jammed against the underside. Soot had come down the chimney of Mrs Annels house and the clock fell off the wall at Red Brick House, the home of Mr and Mrs Fuller."
As seen by these quotes, there was a lot of damage done to part of the village, and my grandfather, Cecil Holman, was part of this incident as he mas a worker at the bombed garage.
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| This is an image of damage done to a shop nearby to the garage. It was taken from a local newspaper. |
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