Sorrow of England’s most bombed village

People in Sturry went about their business as usual on Friday, many unaware that 75 years earlier a horrific tragedy had struck the village.

At 7pm on November 18, 1941, a German parachute mine landed in the High Street, flattening 12 homes and killing 15 people, including seven children.

The high death toll and casualties led to Sturry earning the unenviable wartime title of England’s most bombed village.

It suffered two bombings that night, although the other landed with less effect on the allotments.

Most havoc was wreaked in the village centre, where as well as the destroyed houses, a further 20 were left uninhabitable and 80 damaged.

Reports at the time describe many victims lying buried for hours in the rubble.

It heaped grief on the community, particularly with the loss of so many children, some of whom had been attending a party.

In a report in the Kentish Gazette and Canterbury Press the following day, headed ‘Village Bomb Havoc – Residents Killed and Injured’, the name of the village could not be published due to wartime censorship regulations.

The lives of those killed were documented in a book called Sturry’s Sorrow, published by historian Derek Butler for the 70th anniversary, which he has now updated.

He was just seven and living on the edge of the village when the bombs fell.

He said: “My dad Sidney was in the Home Guard and had just come home on his bike when we heard the aircraft overhead. Historian Derek Butler

“He said ‘don’t worry, that sounds like one of ours’.

“Sadly, he was wrong and a minute or two later we heard the explosion and he went back out to help.”

Among the dead were the Johncock family, including Home Guard member and butcher Ernest, his wife Rosie and their youngest children, Roy and Audrey. Mrs Johncock was discovered under the rubble lying over her children in an apparent effort to shield them.

The youngest victims were siblings Murray Capper, aged 18 months, and four-year-old Barbara Capper, whose mother Violet survived.

Also killed were six-year-old Percival Phillips, June Peel, 10, and 12-year-old John Collins – an only child who was a civil defence messenger who had been visiting the Johncock family on the night.

The Red Lion pub was demolished by the explosion, killing Rosetta Castle, the wife of the landlord.

Historian Derek, 82, said: “I think it is vital to preserve the memories of what happened and the stories of those who lost their lives. The village has changed a lot since then and there are probably many people who do not know of the tragedy.”

His book has now been updated with the poignant story of Sturry resident John Mcnulty, who was serving as a Royal Navy stoker on HMS Candytuft in September 1841 when a boiler exploded, killing him and 10 other crew members.

The book costs £5 from Derek on 01227 463451 or from the parish office in the High Street.

The ruins of the Red Lion in Sturry High Street the morning after the bombing

The Johncock family including older son Bob who was serving in the RAF when his family were killed