Has Anyone Recollections Of WWII Doodlebug That Fell Near Westborough?

Published on: 31 Jan, 2015
Updated on: 31 Jan, 2015

By David Rose

It was the summer of 1944. Following the D-Day landings, the Allies were advancing, a sign that the end of the war in Europe was near. However, for the population at home a new aerial terror had begun – V1 flying bombs, soon referred to as buzz bombs or doodlebugs.

A cut-away illustration of a German V1 flying bomb, also known as doodlebugs or buzz bombs.

As recorded in my book Guildford The War Years 1939-45 (co-written with Graham Collyer) and published by Breedon Books in 1999, in the Guildford town area V1 bombs fells on: June 28, 1944, in a cornfield, west of Foxburrows Avenue, and on the west side of Stoke Recreation Ground; on July 7, at Manor Farm, East Shalford Lane; on July 26, in the Chantries, south-east of Warren Farm; and on August 25, in Aldersey Road.

Details of some of these are noted in the book. However, the first that fell, at Westborough, continues to be a bit of a mystery with some stories suggesting that it might have come down after being hit by an anti-aircraft gun. More of that later.

The Guildford Dragon NEWS has received a comment in the reply box to a story I wrote some time ago about a reader’s memories of Stoughton during the Second World War.

The comment was sent by Amanda Hart-Davies who wrote: “There is an account (held at the Second World War Experience Centre, N. Yorks) of a V1 shot down by the anti-aircraft battery [most likely a single AA gun] opposite Southway, that landed in Foxburrows Avenue demolishing 4 houses including the Mission of the Good Shepherd. This account is in the memoir of a Guildford resident who was a teenage ARP Messenger Boy.”

This sounded strange to me. As far as I understood, the V1 in question fell in a cornfield and I had not heard of houses being wrecked or the mission hall being destroyed. Indeed, I know of people who went there to parties and dances there in the 1950s. The building was later changed somewhat, but no longer exists with housing there now.

A view looking towards Foxburrows Avenue when construction was starting for the Westborough prefab houses (roughly where the Southway roundabout is today). This picture may have been taken after the V1 crashed in this area. I was led to believe that construction took place in 1944, but with no leaves on the trees perhaps it was towards the end of that year, with the V1 crashing on June 28, 1944.

My good friend and fellow local historian Frank Phillipson has supplied me with some official records of the incident that he has copied from the files at the Surrey History Centre, and they make interesting reading. Note: at the time these pilotless aircraft were being described as ‘Fly’(ing) bombs.

Woking Police Division Report

14.06/28 “Fly” in a field 150yds. W. of Foxburrows Ave., Guildford.

MR 415 701 (Not present day map ref.).

Approximately 25 houses damaged. NC. (No Casualties).

Surrey Control.

Worplesdon Parish. MR.415 701 at 14.08/28 FLY, damage to approximately 150 houses in Guildford Boro’, 2 slight casualties.

Guildford Boro’ Police Report.

Approx. 100 houses within the Borough damaged and one slight casualty caused as a result of “Fly” exploding in Woking Division, 150yds. W. of Foxburrows Ave., Guildford.

Amendment on 29th:- With reference to SR (Situation Report) of 28/6/44, the report of damaged houses is now amended to approximately 200.

A zoomed in view of the previous picture and the mission hall known as the Church of the Good Shepherd can be seen. Clergy from St Nicolas Church in Guildford ministered it, and not clergy from St Francis Church in Beckingham Road, which was technically the parish in which it stood..

A zoomed-in view of the previous picture and the mission hall known as the Church of the Good Shepherd can clearly be seen. Clergy from St Nicolas Church in Guildford took services there and not clergy from St Francis Church in Beckingham Road, which was technically the parish in which it stood. But that’s another story!

It would appear that the V1 did indeed cause damage to many houses in nearby Westborough, but the four houses destroyed and mission hall gone, that the eye-witness mentions in the account filed at the Second World War Experience, is somewhat misleading.

Map from 1940 with an X marking the spot where the V1 fell in 1944.

Frank’s research also contains the following report that was published in the Surrey Advertiser of July 1, 1944, that can only relate to the ‘Westborough V1’: “Windows were broken and tiles dislodged and roofs damaged, ceilings fell and doors broken off their hinges when a pilotless plane fell in one district on Wednesday.

“Glass of a church was also shattered but the adjoining chapel was untouched except for a door which caved in and some panes of glass smashed.

“The plane fell in a field and it was the blast that caused the trouble. Casualties were practically nil, the few casualties, mostly women who complained of bruising, shock and minor cuts from broken glass, being speedily treated at a first-aid post.

“Civil Defence personnel turned out promptly. The women seemed to be mostly concerned about the welfare of their children who were at school and were relieved at the news that the building, some distance away, was untouched.

“Those with babies quickly took steps to put them in places of safety from debris when they realised the plane was likely to fall near them. ‘I grabbed my child out of the pram and took it with me under the table’ said one woman who was carrying the infant while she walked down the road to see how her neighbours had fared. A rest centre was speedily opened and those who required meals were able to obtain them.”

Another picture of work at the end of Southway starting for the building of the prefabs towards the end of the Second World War.

Another picture of work at the end of Southway for the building of the prefabs towards the end of the Second World War.

I have spoken to people who recall the incident, some of them being at school at the time and who only heard the explosion.

A doodlebug falls – not Guildford, but an image from a website http://www.intelligentanswers.co.uk/ This may be a ‘mock-up’ image!!

A story that has often been told is that soldiers operating an anti-aircraft gun somewhere near Guildford Cathedral got the V1 in their sights and fired on it, hitting the tail of the doodlebug which brought it crashing to the ground.

Some say the gun was on Stag Hill by the cathedral, with another report stating it was placed on a vertically mounted railway sleeper in the vicinity of Beech Grove, off the then Guildford-Godalming Bypass, and that it was either a Lewis or a Vickers gun.

Can anyone add any further details? If so, please leave a reply in the box below.

Or call me on 01483 838960, or email drosedragon@gmail.com

Responses to Has Anyone Recollections Of WWII Doodlebug That Fell Near Westborough?

John Lomas Reply

January 31, 2015 at 10:31 am

I don’t know if this is relevant to the Westborough bomb, but, my father told me that while working at Drummonds [at Broadstreet] they heard one doodlebug engine stop then restart again for a short while longer before finally stopping and coming to earth.

Not knowing the range at which the engines could be heard, I don’t know where it finally landed.

I always imagined this one would have approached from the east to south quadrant and possibly overflew the Rydes Hill / Broadstreet area to fall within the west to north quadrant.
Mary Bedforth Reply

January 31, 2015 at 5:26 pm

Was the one that landed in the Chantries southeast of South Warren Farm?

Warren Farm itself is located down a track off Warren Road and is a couple of miles north north east of South Warren Farm.

[David Rose: the note I gave in the story was from Guildford council’s official bomb incident record, now on file at the Surrey History Centre.

It was bomb incident no.73, and the note states ‘Warren Farm’. The council’s ‘bomb map’ that is part of the record indicates where the V1 landed. Suffice to say it is marked on the map as being deep in the Chantries, towards the eastern part – ie, the nearest known landmark noted compiled by whoever wrote the report gave it as Warren Farm.

My book, Guildford the War Years 1939-45, contains a reproduction of the bomb map in the appendix – pages 182-183.

Although the book is now out of print (of all my books it’s the one that people seem to want to see back on sale), copies are available from Guildford library.]
Ray Springer Reply

February 1, 2015 at 9:50 am

This doodlebug was shot down by the anti-aircraft gun that was situated at the bottom of the Cathedral Hill, opposite Dennisville estate. I still remember it well.

I lived in Dennisville at that time (I was 10 years old) and now I currently live not very far from where the thing landed near Foxburrows.

I remember that at the time my school mates, who lived in Westborough, were eager to get bits of the bomb as souvenirs – I wonder what happened to them?
David Bailey Reply

February 1, 2015 at 9:05 pm

I remember the V1 landing behind my school.

I was in Miss Edney’s infants class at Westborough School, when the town siren went off and we were taken to the school air raid shelter.

I can still see us sitting on long wooden seats singing. Then on hearing a very loud bang we all went quite until the all clear sounded and we went back to our classroom.

After school I went home to Beckingham Road, where my mother was still clearing up, as the front room window had broken and a bedroom lath and plaster ceiling had come down on my brother’s cot. (He was OK) .

But I don’t remember any trauma experts coming to the school in the 1940s, we just carried on as usual.
Sheila Atkinson Reply

February 2, 2015 at 11:09 am

The story my mother told was that her youngest sister sylvia was in the garden at Worplesdon Road and saw the V1 go down.

She ran in to tell my mother that she thought it must have landed in Westborough, which is where my parents lived.

Sylvia then got on her bicycle and rode to my parents’ home in Southway Avenue and discovered some of the ceilings had come down. They believe it landed in Foxburrows Avenue.
Kathryn Waring Reply

February 2, 2015 at 9:25 pm

An elderly neighbour of mine (about 20 years ago now) told me that a bomb landed on the pavement near the Beech Grove / Ashenden Road junction.

She moved into the house on Beech Grove as a new bride when they were first built and was resident until her death in the 1990s.

[David Rose: according to Guildford Borough Council’s wartime bomb map (a facsimile reproduced in my book Guildford the War Years 1939-45, co-written with Graham Collyer, in 1999), two bombs fell in the vicinity your neighbour mentioned on September 26, 1940. This was the bomb incident number 17 on the council’s list and they were high explosive bombs and fell near houses 79-81 Beech Grove.]
Anne-Marie Coombes Reply

August 8, 2015 at 11:10 am

My nan, who is no longer with us, used to talk of the doodlebugs. She said one hit houses in her road and the lady died. She also spoke of her friend who also died after one hit her house at the same time.

She said if you could hear a V1 it was okay but if it went silent, that’s when you should panic! She lived in Westborough and Stoughton areas.

My grandmother’s name at the time was Joan Martin. She never knew her mother, Hilda Trigg. If anyone has any information about them I would love to hear it.
Peter McGowan Reply

December 3, 2015 at 8:52 pm

On the 28th June 1944 I was three years old and living in a flat with my parents in Roundhill Way, Westborough and can clearly remember a tremendous bang followed by the windows being blown in and the curtains blowing horizontally into the room. Fortunately nobody in the house was injured.
Roger Newby Reply

October 21, 2016 at 5:11 am

I remember that in Elmbridge Avenue, Surbiton Surrey a V1 exploded at around number 78 flattening about four houses and killing one person taking his dog for a walk.

Another V1 crashed very early in the morning into the hill behind Jack Bailey’s farm (Lockner Farm?) in Chilworth. The local poacher claimed he shot it down.
Barbara Lewis Mallyon Reply

June 27, 2017 at 4:54 pm

On June 28 1944 I was at home with my mother as I had just come out of hospital. On that day we were in the garden when the VI flew over our heads.

My mother shouted to me “quick get under the table,” and before I could do that the VI was down in the corn fields just behind the houses further down Foxburrows Avenue.

There was a lot of blast with broken glass, etc. It I had got under the table I would have been cut badly.

As has been said, most houses had broken windows.None were destroyed but some were badly damaged.

My father, who was in the army and stationed in Aldershot, came home to board up our broken windows.

Foxburrows Avenue is on a hill, we were told that the V1 was shot down from Wood Street by the Home Guard. It looked like the V1 flew from the direction of Vernon Way over Woodside Road into the top of Foxburrows Avenue. A day to remember.
Eric Blayden Reply

December 20, 2017 at 11:00 am

I don’t know about the”Doodlebugs” listed, but I did see one crash nearby at Godalming.
Andy Budd Reply

June 6, 2018 at 8:05 pm

Does anyone know the truth about a doodlebug landing on the site of Onslow Infant School during or soon after the Second World War?

David Rose replies: No, according to Guildford Council’s bomb incident records none of the VI bommbs (doodlebugs) that fell on Guildford were at Onslow Village. However, several high explosive bombs fell on Onslow Village. See my book Guildford The War Years 1939-45 (co-written with Graham Collyer) and published by Breedon Books in 1999. Second-hand copies are often available on the internet and there are copies in Guildford Library.
David Dodds Reply

March 13, 2022 at 10:44 am

I was an evacuee and lived with a lovely family called the Wheelers in Baillie Road from about 1941 to 1945. I clearly remember bombing around the area of Addison Road near a hospital that was there at the time. My other memories are of a Mustang aeroplane crashing in Stoke Park and the authorities digging up rounds (live cartridges) of ammunition that had landed in a nearby allotment.

I remember in 1944 hearing doodlebugs flying over us on their way presumably to London. Some didn’t get that far we used to hold our breath when the engine cut out until we heard the explosion, fortunately some distance away!
Valerie Thompson Reply

March 14, 2022 at 9:43 am

I was not born when a flying bomb flew over our house in Mayford and landed in Jackman’s Nursery just a few hundred yards away. My mother recollected throwing herself over the pram in the garden with my baby brother in it.

My parents had just settled in Mayford, having lived in Acton which was heavily bombed during the war.
- Frank Phillipson Reply
  
  March 14, 2022 at 9:02 pm
  
  Details of Jackman’s Nursery V1:
  
  Surrey Police Daybook Record: – 24th July 1944, 21:40, Flying bomb on cultivated ground, approx. 300yds NW of Egley Farm, Mayford, MR 437765, & 75yds SE of Southern Railway Portsmouth Line. No casualties. Damage to telephone wires along line. Devastation to 2 acres of growing carrots, property of Mr Jackman.
  
  Surrey Police Daybook Record (Updated): – 24th July 1944, 21:40, Flying bomb in nursery ground, approximately 300yds NW of Egley Farm, Mayford & 75yds SE of Southern Railway Portsmouth Line, MR 437765. 1 slight female casualty. Damage to telephone wires on the railway. 90 properties suffered minor damage, extensive glass damage to 5 nursery glasshouses, damage to valuable flowering shrubs & ¾ acre of carrots owned by Jackman’s Nursery Woking & also damage to growing tomatoes at Egley Farm Nurseries, Woking.
Marie Lamoureux Reply

April 11, 2024 at 10:39 am

I was only two and a few months old, but I do remember being behind a door with my father and brother. My mother was in the kitchen and we could see her from behind the door. Suddenly we hear that sound followed by silence and my father shouted to my mother “Cath, get under the table.” Next thing that happened was all our windows on one side of the kitchen imploded and gas everywhere. Later we took off our gas masks, mine was a Micky Mouse and my brother had a Donald Duck.