ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Christmas Eve 1944. Our Village is Bombed 7 are dead.

Updated on October 5, 2017
After the attack. A salvage team display the flying bomb that hit the cottages.
After the attack. A salvage team display the flying bomb that hit the cottages. | Source

A Christmas eve tragedy.

It was 5.50am on the morning of Christmas eve 1944, when the V1 rocket flying bomb, dropped from the sky, onto a row of cottages in Chapel Street in Tottington, a small rural community just outside Bury a town in Lancashire England. Six people were killed and 9 people were injured. One person later died of their injuries.

The attack.

A total of 45 rockets also known as Doodlebugs were launched that night, 15 of that number came down around the Manchester area which is a nearby city. The Tottington tragedy was the second worst bombing of the night. One bomb landed in the nearby town of Oldham where 32 people were killed. The launch sites from which these rockets were normally launched, had been overrun by the allies after the Normandy invasion. On this particular night all the rockets had been launched at Manchester, from converted Heinkel 111 Bombers flying over the North Sea.


Tottington.


Of the people killed one woman was visiting her sister for Christmas both of them were to die. Another woman was to die of her injuries on February 20th 1945. Today Whitehead Remembrance Gardens is on the site of the cottages. There is a plaque on the wall in the gardens which reads; THE WHITEHEAD GARDEN. THIS GARDEN WAS GIVEN BY MR & MRS WHITEHEAD OF STORMER HILL (Their nearby house) TO THE PEOPLE OF TOTTINGTON. TO BE ENJOYED BY THEM FOR ALL TIME IN MEMORY OF THOSE NAMED BELOW WHO WERE KILLED HERE BY A FLYING BOMB ON 24th DECEMBER 1944.


The Theft.

Today the plaque on the wall is a stone tablet, this is not the original Bronze memorial plaque. It is incredible that some years ago the original plaque was stolen. It was found in a local scrap yard, damaged beyond repair. Shortly afterwards the stone tablet was erected.


When I pass the gardens.

We lived in Tottington during the 1970s and then as now local people have great respect for the gardens. I still have family members who live only one mile from them and when visiting I always make a point of passing by. Yes I am in the car but I always turn and nod to the memory of those that were lost and injured. When we think about it, this was one incident on one night and the pain can still be felt. Europe was ablaze Millions were lost Why do we do it? Poem: Remember That Soldier.



© 2013 Graham Lee

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)