Wartime bombs dropped near iconic Claughton brickworks narrowly missed nearby villages

On the night of October 29, 1940, a thick fog covered the Lune Valley.

With the wartime blackout strictly enforced, no lights could be seen.

A German bomber, probably enroute to the shipyards at Barrow, became lost in the fog and dropped two of its bombs some way from the intended target.

They landed on Claughton Moor between Claughton Hall and Manor House Farm, luckily missing the properties.

Had the bombs hit any nearby village, many lives would have been lost.

One bomb exploded on impact. The second was detonated on November 1 at noon by sub-lieutenant Edward Woolley of the Mine-Warfare Establishment.

The resulting shockwave was felt well beyond the point of detonation, with reports that several properties in Claughton, Hornby and Wray had their windows blown out.

The type of bomb dropped on Claughton Moor was known as a Luftmine.

Although essentially a naval weapon, or sea mine, this type of explosive had been dropped on London the previous month as a blast bomb.

It had a casing that was much thinner than that of a conventional bomb. A parachute was attached to slow the rate of descent.

As the bomb struck the ground a clockwork fuse would detonate after approximately twenty-five seconds.

Quite a large proportion of these devices failed to explode on impact. This was the case with one of the two that fell on Claughton Moor in 1940.

The events of the evening are related in a first-hand account provided by Mary Morse, who lived at Claughton Hall at the time.

She recalls: "On that night mother Dora and I were alone in the house. I remember that a thick fog was covering the whole valley. We were blacked out.

"We heard an aircraft flying overhead. It seemed to be very high. We knew it was a German aircraft by the different noise the engines made.

"The next minute there was a huge bang, but we couldn’t see anything from the windows. Although the house shook, there seemed to be no damage, so we went to bed.

“Early next morning I went into the dining room and saw that the windows were smashed and the floor covered with broken glass.

"Looking out, I saw that all the field walls were down in the direction of Grey Wood.

"Outside, the ground was littered with pieces of twisted metal and dark green material.

"Walking towards Grey Wood I saw a large crater at the bottom end of the wood, on land belonging to Manor House Farm.

"Half a dozen paces away was another bomb. It looked like a long tube about eighteen inches in diameter and eight feet long.

“Upon returning home, we rang the police who cautioned us about going near the bomb.

"They caused considerable panic by saying that we should not collect any pieces as they may be contaminated with anthrax and that we should burn all clothing we had on when we approached the bomb.”

Mary said it was soon established that they were sea mines and would therefore not be contaminated and the police and Home Guard came up to guard it.

She said: “When they were unavailable, I spent some time guarding it as well. Police Constable Bell from Wray, who seemed to know about these things, said that it would only blow up if it started to tick.

Whilst I was there, a group of six men, I do not know who they were, came up and sat on the bomb to have their photograph taken.

"Soon the naval squad arrived, and we were instructed to stay well away whilst they dealt with it.

"At the same time a chauffeur-driven car came along with a man in it. This turned out to be Norman Sedon Brown, manager of Lansil Silk Works in Lancaster.

"He drove right across the fields without asking permission, and fixed the parachute to his towbar and dragged it back to the road.

"He was very rude and cross when challenged, saying that he wanted the parachute for experimental purposes.

"However, the naval officers came across and mother said that we wanted the parachute.

"The officer asked whose land it was and, learning it was ours, said that the parachute belonged to us, settling the matter.

“The parachute was enormous. With the help of John Broomfield and a wheelbarrow we got it to the squash court where it hung for a few days.

"People from the Lune Valley came and viewed it for a fee of 6d. The money raised went to HMS Lancaster, with many donating more.

“I think we would have liked to keep it to make clothes and things as the material was a lovely dark green silk.

"But the police said that it would have to go to the admiralty and was taken away by Sergeant Stackhouse of Hornby. We never saw it again.

“When the second bomb was exploded, it did more damage but made a smaller crater. About forty windowpanes were broken and part of the kitchen ceiling came down.

“A stone flag on the roof was also broken. Further afield, several windows in Smith’s farm were broken and in Claughton village. Thankfully nobody was hurt.”