24th December 1944 – V1 Attack
V1 Flying Bombs had been wreaking havoc across the southern parts of the UK during late 1944. The V1 was a simple pilotless device, launched from sites across Europe and pointed towards its target. The range was set and when this range had been reached the fuel supply was cut causing the device to fall from the sky and explode. In reality they were not particularly accurate.
On Christmas Eve 1944 a force of Heinkel HE111’s air launched 45 Fieseler Fi 103 V1 flying bombs off the Yorkshire coast with their intended target the city of Manchester. The raid was met with relative success with around 15 of them making it as far as Manchester whilst the others either overshot, fell short, or in the case of the one which landed in County Durham, went way off course.
At just after 6am on Christmas Eve 1944 the residents in the mining community of Tudhoe were woken by a loud explosion. Roof tiles and windows were damaged at St Charles Road and the vicarage suffered minor damage. Although there was no loss of life, several people were treated for minor cuts. The device itself had landed on the Cricket field leaving a large crater and I am sure by the time the Cricket season began in the summer of 1945, the hole had been filled in.
