Memories of Oldham in World War II

Editor,

I read that you had a series about "Oldham Remembers" some years ago.

I didn't know anything about it, as I was living in Warsaw at that time. 

In 1944, Christmas Eve, it was a few weeks before my 9th birthday.

I was living with my mother on Bankhill Street, near Lees Road.

My father was in Burma with 14th army. 

My mother woke me up at 5 45am, saying that she'd heard a big bang, that sounded it was coming from Glod'ik!

Later that day, she and I rushed to my aunt's house in Abbeyhills.

My mother was in tears, thinking the worst.

We used to walk to my aunt's, over Glodwick Lowe's, as it saved bus fare.

As we got near to Abbeyhills Road, we saw the devastation caused by a V.

The road was impassable.

We had to make our way to Roundthorn to get to auntie's. 

I learned much later that the bomb had been launched from under the port wing of a Heinkel over the North sea.

Those terror weapons never ran out of fuel (petrol).

They had an automatic device, operated by a small propellor in the nose, which would count backwards untill zero, then make the bomb dive.

It was meant to be a power dive, but due to a design fault; the fuel tank was in front of the engine so there was fuel starvation and power was cut off.

That was the reason for silence until the explosion.

W Bradbury.

Edinburgh

The views expressed are those of the author of the letter and not those of Oldham Chronicle.