I picked up two superb photographs this morning along with a 11th A.A. Division patch from a house clearance bloke so there may be a connection between the photographs and the Midlands area. Other than that there is nothing to indicate where they were taken; nothing stamped on the back to indicate whether they were official photographs, so I am quessing that they may be unreleased press photographs. The first photograph has a wealth of detail and looks at first glance like bomb damage but the remains of a crashed aircraft are visible amongst the debris. It is not possible to ascertain whether it is a German bomber or a British fighter. The three men to the left of the picture are standing by the tail section with the rear landing wheel can be seen. There is more aircraft wreckage between the lady at the front of the photograph and the shattered lamp post. It is possible that the word 'Marding' is amongst those cast into the base of the lamp post but my eyes may be deceiving me. The only other clue is the number of the house at the right of the picture which is possibly number 257. If by any miracle someone could identify the location I would be amazed.
Today this sort of reckless behaviour would give Health & Safety officials apoplexy; no safety equipment, no hard hats, no high viz jackets, no safety lines, no warning signs, no barriers, scaffolding or means of escape. Presumably someone called social services, the boy was taken into care and the responsible adult was sent to prison for a long period of quiet reflection. What were they thinking of?
Perseverance pays off. The clue was the cast iron lamp post. I scanned it at a very high resolution and found that the maker's name was T.L. Harding & Sons. Some judicious googling shows that T.L. Harding & Sons were based in Torquay and that the ruined church was St Mary the Virgin at St Marychurch Torquay. It was hit in a lightning raid by Focke-Wulf 190s on the 30th May 1943 that caused the deaths of many children attending Sunday School. A Focke-Wolf 190 apparently hit the spire and crashed into a house at 294 Teignmouth Road, St Marychurch and badly injured Edith Elson who died of her injuries on the 5th June 1943
Note the unusual crucifix in my original photograph and the same crucifix in a photograph of St Mary's taken from the Devon Heritage website on the internet. The third photograph shows a salvage party at work.
Thank you. I am very pleased to have cracked it but the story was already told on the Devon Heritage website. All I had to do was join the dots. I cannot seem to post a link but if you go to the Devon Heritage website and look under Torquay and WW2 you should find it.
I was going to guess that the plane was German based on the fact that the guys gathered around it are smiling.
Further reading suggests that the pilot who collided with the church spire and then crashed into Teignmouth Road was Gefr Karl Laue of 16 Staffel and that Uffz Erich Spat of 14 Staffel was hit by anti-aircraft fire and his FW 190 crashed into the sea off Maidencombe beach. Both pilots appear to have been with IV/SKG 10.
Lost her life while warning others to take cover. ELSON, EDITH KATHLEEN Rank: Civilian Date of Death: 05/06/1943 Age: 18 Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead Reporting Authority: TORQUAY, MUNICIPAL BOROUGH Additional Information: of 294 Teignmouth Road. Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Cyril Elson, of 12 Millais Road, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, Middlesex. Injured 30 May 1943, at Torquay; died at Torbay Hospital. (Lost her life while warning others to take cover.).
CASUALTIES OF THE BOMBING OF ST. MARYCHURCH Use the scroll bar to view the complete page This page begins with a listing of the children killed on May 30 1943 in the parish church of St. Marychurch, Torquay. But the raiders who came that day created other incidents close by. Further down the page, after the listing of the children who died, there is another casualty list which includes adults who were also in the church as well as those who were killed elsewhere in St.Marychurch. Would-be rescuers at work May 1943 The origin of this photograph was not known to us when we first published this article. In November 2010, we heard from Jean Harris in Toronto. This is what she told us: "This photo appears in the Vol 2 of The Pictorial Survey of Babbacombe and St Marychurch, compiled by my late brother-in-law Leslie Pateman and published 1991 by the Babbacombe and St Marychurch Traders' and Hoteliers' Association. It appears on page 216 and is a photocopy of the newspaper page published in the Torquay Times June 4 1943. As this was wartime, the newspaper did not identify the actual place viz: St Marychurch and records only that the photo is "All that is left of the chancel of a Westcountry parish church when FW190s swept in from the sea to drop their bombs. Children attending a Rogation Sunday service were the chief victims of this, the most pathetic incident of the raid. I well remember those "hit and run" raids that we had for some considerable time all along that coast until the Allied forces took Cherbourg and the Normandy peninsula. My husband especially remembered that day in 1943 when St Marychurch was bombed as his family were evacuated into an hotel for several days as their house had been damaged at that time. Those raids were made more scary by the fact that the air raid sirens did not sound until the German planes had come and gone! " The church of St. Mary the Virgin which gave its name to St. Marychurch, a parish on the outskirts of Torquay, was destroyed by enemy action on Sunday May 30th 1943 in the early afternoon. Children had begun to arrive for Sunday School and most of the girls were already inside the church, some with the woman who had brought them - the boys were still playing outside the door. Inside, the Sunday School teachers were waiting to start their classes when aircraft flew in from the sea and bombs began to fall. When the raid was over and the full enormity of the event was realised, would-be rescuers came from far and wide, making frantic attempts to move tons of masonry, metal, timber and glass with their bare hands but in spite of their heroic efforts, the last of the bodies was not recovered for another 48 hours. Different sources quote different numbers of casualties but below is the number killed as carved in stone over the doorway of the rebuilt church. This states that 26 children and teachers were killed in the church itself. Sadly, we have so far traced only 21 children and 3 adults so our search must continue. The inscription above the church doorway ©Richard J. Brine http://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Torquay/CasualtiesofthebombingofSt.Marychurch.htm
Nicks, superb stuff, thank you for posting. I wonder if the modern occupants are aware of the history of their house. Simon.
Name: Edith Kathleen Elson Estimated birth year: abt 1925 Death Date: 5 Jun 1943 Death Place: Torquay, Devon, England Age at Death: 18 Father: Frederick Cyril Elson According to the above she died whilst warning others to take cover TD edited to add: Forgot to say 'good detective work' Sherlock High Wood
Hi there all. I live at 294 Teignmouth Rd and was very interested to see the photos of the house that used to exist where the one I live in now stands. All the row of houses that you can see in the Blitz1.jpg were demolished and new 3 (or 4) storey houses were built in their place. The houses in Torquay.jpg are further down the road. Strangely I had researched the house before I lived here as a friend owned it but only looked further into it as my mother stayed over last night and swears she heard a person walking between the rooms on the floor above at about 3am -something not possible with the current layout of the main house. But looking at blitz1.jpg it WOULD have been perfectly possible as the rooms are laid out differently! Does this prove that a ghost was present no - but still quite a spooky coincidence! Thanks for all the photos - I shall show them to the occupants of the main house!
Well, it might have been Edith, wonder what she might have wanted to warn you about! CWGC has 39 casualties for the 30 May 1943 raid