Committee at Birch Hall today. Very wet all day, and Birch Hall terribly cold and draughty. We sat from a quarter to 2 until half past 5. Cooper Bland said that during the alarm yesterday a single plane bombed Ripper’s timber yard at Sible Hedingham, for some extraordinary reason, and did quite a lot of damage.
More serious, at Braintree on Saturday night bombs fell right in the heart of the town. Lloyd’s Bank, on the corner of Bank Street, received a direct hit and was demolished, as was a garage in Coggeshall Road, while houses, shops, and the County School in Coggeshall Road were seriously damaged. In all this only three people were killed, a man and a girl in the street, and a little boy in bed, and 17 hurt, but not very seriously. This means that out of a population of about 7,500 at least 45 people have been raid casualties, and several dozen buildings seriously damaged. When I was there just a year ago I remember saying to Peggy Mens that shelters (they had none then) were not likely to be of much use in Braintree, and she remarked that Braintree was the first place in Essex where people were killed in raids in the last war. Now they have had two mines and these huge bombs.
Saw Hampshire tonight, and he agreed to let the pony, trap and harness go [to Penelope Belfield] for £12.12.0, which I think is very reasonable. Beautiful fine, starlight night but no raid. Manoeuvres to the S.W. and at 11 o’clock someone opened up with a heavy gun. The flashes illuminated the whole town, and the explosions shook windows, I wondered if my poor old people were listening to it in alarm.
8 comments:
I can only find one picture of the ww11 bombing of the Lloyd,s bank in Braintree Essex .its an artists sketch in the Braintree museum
I can only find one picture of the ww11 bombing of the Lloyd,s bank in Braintree Essex .its an artists sketch in the Braintree museum
Hello Derek,
Thank you for letting me know. I will look forward to seeing this artist's sketch in Braintree Museum.
Best wishes, Catherine
Love to speak to you.trying to find out about what was the old drill hall at what is now the old bus park Fairfield road Braintree.I have memories of sitting on top of a load of army kit in the back of a home made barrow being towed by my father on a push bike.waiting out side while dad dumped his kit looking in at army field guns. His last job in the army was to help out during the canvey island floods of 1953 so I would have been about three years old.Dad would have been 100 this December but alas died in 1970
My grandfather was village warden for Rayne. He was on the church tower as the bombers came over. He said they were ditching bombs because they were losing height. He saw the bombs fall. All these years later I am living in Peggy Mens house and looking after the labradors she started in 1947. Small world. Her husband died tragically young from shock after the war at 46.
There are still bombs lying unexploded on Rayne Hall Farm.
A bomb landed in the garden of 132 Cressing Road, home of the Gentrys (and my mother) and did not explode
Thanks for adding your own family history to this post - I very much appreciate having this additional insight on these wartime events.
Best wishes,
CP
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