German incendiary bomb proves real blast from the past
THE item handed to antiques dealer James Anderson certainly proved explosive...
It was a Luftwaffe bomb – or, rather, the tip of the incendiary that created carnage close to Warley Woods, Smethwick, in 1941.
And the box the shrapnel came in contained an incredible story of one man’s pivotal role in the Birmingham Blitz.
There were two gas masks, a tin helmet and buttons from a uniform.
This was what was left of one Smethwick air raid warden’s kit.
He had kept the bomb’s nose cone as a reminder of the terrible nights when Hitler brought the war to our doorstep.
Mr Anderson, boss of Oldbury’s Home By James antiques business, says: “Independently, the items aren’t rare, but to get them all together is unusual.
“And the fact they belonged to one person is rare.”
The items came from a property on Wolverhampton Road South, in Quinton, father of holder.
“I think she had lived there all her life,” says Mr Anderson. “Most of these things, things like gas masks, were thrown out by families after the war.”
Sadly the blitz collection was sold piecemeal, not as a job lot, and the items didn’t go for a king’s ransom.
The gas masks – one belonging to the warden, the other for his wife – realised £35 each.
The tin hat sold for £30. The buttons sold for £25.
And the bomb fragment was snapped up for £50.
Sadly there is no documentation about the incident that provided the war- and the belonged deceased to the house- den with a strange keepsake but it is known the segment of shrapnel originated from a Heinkel. A Heinkel 111 bomber was blasted out of the night sky on April 9, 1941, crashing into 281 and 283 Hales Lane, Smethwick, addresses very close to Warley Woods.
Seven civilians died, as did two of the bomber’s crew. A member of a party of firewatchers on duty in the road told a reporter: “We heard the clatter of machine gun fire and a scream as the plane came down. We threw ourselves flat on the ground in an entry and the machine crashed into the houses immediately opposite. There was only a dull explosion, but there was a blinding flash, and the wreckage of the plane and the houses was blown in all directions.
“I saw a member of the Home Guard run to the blazing plane and drag out a body. The airman wore an Iron Cross.”
Thomas Packer, a warden, described the capture of one member of the crew.
“I was at the post when the airman was brought in by warden Simmons and Home Guards Chadney and Davies.”
“He said they caught him at the Oval immediately after he landed. He had an injury to his foot and limped.”
Could antiques dealer James have been given the last remaining evidence of Smethwick’s darkest day of the war?