Carl Chinn's book "Brum Undaunted" gives a good summary of the German air raids on Birmingham. He quotes a lady's claim that she saw a plane fly over Birches Green on the first day of the war, heard two bangs and later saw two craters in Rookery Park. He adds that this is not supported in official records.
More relevantly, he writes that the first recorded attack was on 9 August 1939, when Edwin Wilkes heard a lone aircraft over Goosemoor Lane. Nearby Ethel Bishop was in bed in Montague Road. She wrote in 1995 that heard a loud bang, and then an even louder one when she found that houses opposite had been hit, after which there was a quieter explosion. The first bomb had fallen in Lydford Grove, and the third, she thought, in Erdington Hall Road. It is surprising that the first damage should have been on civilians when there were so many military targets in the area. The next attack seems to have been more accurate - on the factory at Castle Bromwich Airport on 13 August 1940.
The first major raid over Birmingham was on 25 August, by 50 bombers. The next months did untold damage, but the worst was over by December. Then there were shorter doses in February and March 1941 and July 1942, and finally on 23 April 1943.
Peter Walker
Hi Peter, I was born in Erdington Hall rd and have never heard of bombs falling in Rookery park, the way all the residents around there related the story is that a bomber got separated from it’s formation, and to try and avoid machine gun fire from a fighter aircraft began to fly a random course, and to lighten the aircraft to give it slightly more speed and manouverability released it’s bombs.
No one was sure exactly where the first bomb hit, but the story goes that there were two around the Goosemoor lane area, it then flew around in an arc to bring it over Pype Hayes park where two more bombs fell, I have played in those two bomb holes as we have always called them, all my younger days ( those two holes are still there to this day ) two more fell in Pype Hayes, others in Birches Green, another destroyed two houses directly opposite the Green Man pub ( now the Lad In the Lane ) in bromford lane.
Another in Alleyne rd, which is off Erdington Hall rd destroying a grocers shop, another in Montague rd, and the last one that I know about was at the top of Minstead rd, off gravely Hill destroying two houses which created another of our favourite play areas, which we called the sandy banks that sloped down to Hawkesyard rd.
hi bri..how weird that i should have started this thread..ive just read your post about you playing on the bomb site of the 2 houses that were bombed in minstead road...ive just found out that my gt grandfathers brother herbert harrington and his wife both died when the bomb hit their house at no 19 minstead..just taken a google walk down the road and you can clearly see that they had to build new houses on that site..
lyn
Hi TemplerAnother in Alleyne rd, which is off Erdington Hall rd destroying a grocers shop
Hi Templer
Would this Grocers have been on the corner of alleyne road, can you remember?
Cheers
Maggs
3 Alleyne Road looks promising if you look through the trees at the windows
Hihi bri..how weird that i should have started this thread..ive just read your post about you playing on the bomb site of the 2 houses that were bombed in minstead road...ive just found out that my gt grandfathers brother herbert harrington and his wife both died when the bomb hit their house at no 19 minstead..just taken a google walk down the road and you can clearly see that they had to build new houses on that site..
lyn