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One particular strike may have been somewhat different from
those described above and it seems to have involved a weapon of a rather
different construction. John Harman describes the attack as follows....
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"Probably, not many will remember the Northwood Road Garage. This
was located just around the corner from Tower Parade. At the start of
the war, this garage was taken over by The Army. There were
lorries and bren gun carriers - all parked down the side lane behind
Tower Parade.
One fine evening late in the war whilst still occupied by the
military, the large "rounded roof" building burned to the
ground. It was a sensational fire, fed by stored fuel and large drums
of oil. This all burned to the sound of exploding ammunition"
John Harman
Sidney
British Columbia
Canada
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The intensity of the fire brings back memories for Peter
Elvy....
| I remember the Northwood Road bombing
because we lived 150 yards up the road. I seem to remember very hot
weather but perhaps that was the fire!
Peter Elvy
London |
Now, thanks to Mark Foreman and his dad, we can actually rewind the
clock on that incident by a few seconds.....
| I was speaking to me ole Dad again, keeping him up to date on the
site when I mentioned that you were cataloguing bombs that had fallen
around Whitstable during the War.
He was stood out on the Harbour one day, when he was living in
Harbour House (not Harbour Cottage which was across the road when a
bomb went over the top of him so close that he was able to see the
coloured band around it!
Apparently, it was travelling nearly horizontally having been
dropped low and fast. Needless to say my Dad thought his days were
numbered right there and then!
The bomb carried on far enough to drop on the site of the old
Northwood Garage near the Castle. Dad was told it was actually a
type of large incendiary that the troops stationed on the harbour
called an "oil bomb".
Mark Foreman
Brooks
Alberta
Canada
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The trajectory and nature of that bomb combined with the
fact that it hit a specific military target makes one suspect that this
may have been an opportunist but specifically targetted attack.
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