The following article appeared in the Woking
News and Mail on 29th November 1940 and relates to bombing damage
caused to the property Strathyre,
DAYLIGHT RAIDER UNLOADS
----
House Demolished and Woman Killed
----
An enemy raider which appeared over a town in the Home Counties shortly before 10 o’clock last Friday morning was sighed by British fighter aircraft, which immediately went to the attack.
The rattle of machine guns overhead brought people into the streets, but the battle took place at too great a height for the planes to be observed.
Shortly afterwards, while the raider was trying to make its escape the pilot released a whole cargo of bombs, all of which fell on the outskirts of the town. One landed directly upon a house, which was completely demolished and in which the sole occupant, Mrs. Ellen Jane Hone, was 49 years of age, lost her life. A dog in the house escaped unhurt. The houses on each side of this were also damaged. One had a hole torn in the side wall and the other sustained damage to the roof and tiles.
This was one of 18 bombs which the raider dropped. Four others exploded in fields not far away and 13 fell within a comparatively short distance in large cemetery, damaging tombstones and causing big craters. A man in the cemetery was slightly injured by something which struck him on the leg.
RAIDER BROUGHT DOWN NOT CONFIRMED
There were
persistent reports following the air battle that the enemy raider had been brought
down, and in the evening a statement was broadcast that a Dornier 215 had been
brought down near
The house which was demolished was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Hone, the husband, Hillier, being away at work at the time. Although many bombs have been dropped over the Home Counties urban district in question this is the first fatal casualty sustained in the area.
----
The following article appeared in the Woking
News and Mail on 29th November 1940 and relates to bombing damage caused
to the property Woodside,
Oakway, Hermitage Estate, St. John's., Woking on 28th November 1940
BOMBS ON HOUSING ESTATE
----
Four Dwellings Demolished
----
ANOTHER FATAL CASUALTY
An enemy raider passing over a town in the Home Counties released a number of high explosive bombs, two of which demolished two pairs of semi-detached houses on a housing estate outside the town. The collapse of the houses caused a number of causalities, one of which proved fatal.
Five bombs fell in line on and near the housing estate. A resident who saw an aeroplane go over at the time stated that it was in flames. Its bombs, at any rate, were jettisoned. Two fell on open ground, causing craters; one landed in a roadway, and the other two destroyed the four houses, which were situated 75 years apart.
FAMILIES BURIED UNDER DEBRIS
The house in which the fatality occurred was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. F. Zeacle, their three children and a girl evacuee. The last-named was the one who got out unhurt when the building collapsed. Mr. Frank William Zeacle, DCM, lost his life, Mrs. Rose Emily Zeacle had to be taken to hospital and their three children all suffered from shock.
The adjoining house, which was also completely demolished and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Carter, their three children and an evacuated child. These were more fortunate than their neighbours, having a remarkable escape from injury after being buried under the debris of the house. Mr. Carter suffered a slight injury to his shoulder, but all the others came through unhurt. All six in the house, as well as the six next door, were sleeping upstairs.
The bomb, which struck in the
centre of the semi-detached pair of
houses, brought them down in one big heap of rubble. A large part of a chimney stack had been
thrown out by the front gate, yet strangely enough a rustic rose pergola in the
front
“HEAD THROUGH THE RAFTERS”
Mrs. Carter and her family found refuge for the night with neighbours. She said, “I woke up and found the house was shaking. I said to my husband, ‘There’s one coming’, and no sooner had I said it then it hit us and the house came down.
“I found myself sitting on top if the wreckage with my head through the rafters”, Mrs. Carter went on. “ I got out before A.R.P. people arrived. They helped the children, who crawled through the wreckage and were lifted to safety”.
A second pair of houses on this estate a short distance away were demolished by another bomb, which scored a direct hit about the same time. In this case, however, the bomb had not landed centrally, and while one house was completely down, a wall and the front doorway of the next house remained in position.
NINE PEOPLE ESCAPED
This latter house was occupied by
nine people, most of whom were sleeping down-stairs. They were Mr. and Mrs. Bates and their two
children, who had been evacuated from
Mrs. Bates said, “I had just got back into bed when I heard the whistle of a bomb and down it came on us. Although I was upstairs I managed to get out more easily and before the others”.
The house next door was in ruins. There had been four people in this, Mr. and Mrs. Poole and two young women evacuees. The girls were unhurt, but Mr. and Mrs. Poole had to be rescued from the debris and they were taken to hospital.
On a few other houses in the vicinity of those bombed, tiles were displaced.