When War Came To Templecombe

Memories of September 5th 1942

View into the S & D Platform from where now is Thales Entry Road. On the middleright can be seen workmen clearing up after the bombing and also visible is thedamage to the houses

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At about 9:15 pm on Saturday 5th September 1942 the war came toTemplecombe in a terrible way. A lone Ju88 Bomber attacked Templecombeand it's station by dropping four bombs in an attempt to damage the rail junctionthen in the village.

Misjudging his run slightly, the bombs intended for the railway line and buildingssucceeded in hitting the line only once but caused extensive damage to anumber of dwelling houses and station buildings involving serious loss of life.

The first bomb fell close to a terrace of houses in School Lane, where ChurchGarth now stands and was followed by another which landed at the westernend of the terrace near to the main road to Wincanton. These two bombscompletely destroyed two of the houses, resulting in the loss of four lives. Thethird bomb fell close to the Somerset and Dorset tracks at the platform and thefourth on the Southern Railway blocking both lines. Bombs three and fourcaused the deaths of eight railwaymen.

When War Came to Templecombe

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Apart from damage to the station and terrace of houses on the north side ofthe Southern Railway line, Bridge House, St Mary's Church and the UnitedReformed Church (known then as the Congregational Church), as well asthe two hotels then in the village were damaged. Both railway lines wereblocked as was the A357 to Wincanton. Many other houses had varyingdegrees of damage according to their position. The Co-op store, then onChurch Hill was set on fire by the second blast.

The Civil Defence Office of the Regional Commissioner Daily Summaryposted on 6thSeptember No 390 states “ 4 He at Church Hill and SchoolLane, demolishing two houses and station buildings. Up and down linesblocked by debris. Main Wincanton Henstridge road blocked. Fire reportedat Co-operative stores. Casualities 11 killed 5 serious ly 12 slightly”.

The Civil Defence Office of the Regional Commissioner Daily Summaryposted on 9th September No 391 states “LMS reports milk train servicebetween Bath and Templecombe resumed at 16:39 6/9/42.Normalpassenger and goods service restored on 7/9/42. Casualties now 12killed 12 seriously wounded 11 slightly”.

{He is High explosive LMS is London Midland and Scottish Railway}

Very little warning of the attack was given due to the low level approach ofthe aircraft and the lack of an air raid siren in the village. The first warningvillagers got was by an engine sounding it's whistle multiple times. By thattime though, it was too late for anyone to take cover.

Luckily the 8.55pm train to Yeovil Town, the 9.03pm train to Salisbury and the9.05pm to Bath had recently left the station otherwise the loss of life almostcertainly would have been much greater.

Those who lost their lives in the raid

Ethel Andrews ( Evacuee fromLondon) (44)

Patrick Gawler (17)

Elizabeth Coombes (55) Milly Greenslade (36)Samuel Coombes (59)

Eva Howe (58)Samuel Day (47)

Michael Howe (9)James Dart (48)

Edward Juniper (Evacuee, buried inLondon) (16)

Florence Howe (34)

Arthur Dray (36)

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A Conundrum

According to Civil Defence records only 12 persons were killed by the bombingsand this seems to be confirmed by Parish Council records. However, ParishChurch records show that one further person died on 5th September 1942, shewas Mrs Annie Rounsefell (66). A further villager Mrs Bessie Goddard (71)who lived in the most westerly cottage in School Lane died on 10th September.Presumably she was badly injured and died on 10th September. These funeralswere reported in the Western Gazette of Friday September 18th 1942 as deathshaving been caused by enemy action and also included the names of some ofthose who died in the bombing. Both Mrs Goddard and Mrs Rounsefell areincluded in the roll of Templecombe residents who were killed by enemy action.It seems that no one in the village today remembers Mrs Rounsefell.

Does this mean that 14 people were killed as the result of the bombing?

St Mary’s Church in happier times

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At a meeting of the Parish Council on 11th September, apart from needingto find a new meeting place, as Bridge House, their usual venue, had beenso badly damaged in the raid, they also voted to start a Public Air Raid DistressFund and for collecting boxes to be placed in Public Houses and Shops. Thefund to be administered by the whole Parish Council.

On 2nd October a further Parish Council meeting was held when a petitionwas received from villagers requesting that a proper air raid warning siren beinstalled in the village. The Clerk was instructed to write with the request tothe S W Regional Commissioner. (A siren was later supplied which was fittedto the station footbridge.)

At a meeting of the Public Air Raid Distress Fund Committee on 15th

November it was stated that the sum of £111 14s 4d had been receivedinto the Public Air Raid Distress Fund. It was decided to initially allocate£100 0s 0d of the resources as follows:

Mrs Dray 3 South View Husband killed £9 0s 0d

Mrs Day 22 Westcombe Park Husband killed £15 0s 0d

Mrs Dart 3 Westcombe Husband killed £13 0s 0d

Mr Gawler Overcombe Son killed £4 0s 0d

Mr Juniper Son killed £4 0s 0d

Mr Howe (senior) West View Wife killed £4 0s 0d

Mr Howe (junior) West View Wife and son killed £11 0s 0d

Mr V. Greenslade 6 South View Wife killed £4 0s 0d

Mr W. Coombes Mother and father killed £8 0s 0d

Mr Andrews Wife killed £4 0s 0d

Mrs Read Overcombe For expenses in connection £4 0s 0dwith Mr Andrew's two children

Mr Hillier Station Road Seriously injured £10 0s 0d

Mr Wootton Station Road Seriously injured £10 0s 0d

The Aftermath

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On 8th January 1943 a further Council meeting was told that the balancefrom the above fund (£11 14s 4d), plus a collection from Horsington of £316s 2d meant that £15 0s 0d was available for distribution after deductingexpenses. It was agreed to make final payments as follows:

Mrs W. Chant £2 0s 0d

Mrs Warren £2 0s 0d

Mrs White £2 0s 0d

Mrs Dart £1 0s 0d

Mrs Day £1 0s 0d

Mrs Dray £1 0s 0d

Mr Wootton £3 0s 0d

Mr Hillier £3 0s 0d

When it is considered that the average weekly wage at the time was £2 to£3 the sum collected is a tribute to the residents of Templecombe.

In a letter to the Parish Council Mr B Howe (senior) asked that his originalaward of £4 0s 0d should be split equally between Mrs Dart, Mrs Dray andMrs Day. This was agreed by the Council.

Unlike raids on major conurbations, very little additional information relating tothe raid exists. Probably the most detailed account can be found in a reportcompiled on 7th September 1942 by the railway company's engineer whichshows how badly the station was damaged.

Mr Wooton and Mr Hillier were clearly seriously injured as they werepresumably still off work in January 1943, hence the continuing payments.

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Up Side Station Buildings

All external doors blown in and broken. All glass windows broken and most ofthe frames blown in or out. All brickwork adjoining S & D road cracked anddisplaced. The ceilings are also badly damaged.

Signalbox

All glass windows broken and a few of the window frames damaged. Doorsleading to Relay and Battery rooms blown in. Flat roofing over these roomsunbroken but slightly displaced. Reinforcement of main roof exposed at oneplace where the protective concrete has broken away.

Platform Roofing

Glass and corrugated asbestos covering removed from whole of roofingexcept for section covered by asbestos east of station buildings onup platform, which is holed in numerous places. Supporting steelworksubstantially undamaged except for a 50 ft length (one bay) at westend of down platform,which was completely destroyed by bomb No 4.

Down Platform

30 yard length opposite signalbox destroyed by crater of bomb No 4 and onecoping slab opposite up side Refreshment Room smashed.

Up Platform

30 yard length of coping destroyed by bomb No 4.

S & D Platform

30 yards of coping opposite Refreshment Room slightly displaced by bomb No 3.

Station Buildings and other Structures

Down Side Station Buildings

All external doors blown in and broken and most of frames blown in orout. Brickwork at west end of Parcels Office badly cracked and displaced.Flat concrete roofing and precast sections of building forming two P. W.Inspectors' offices undamaged but doors and windows and corrugatedasbestos sheets to roof broken.

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No books for sale today

Serious structural damage Damage from blast clearly seen

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Refreshment Room badly damaged

Roofing blown off by blast —S&D line turning left

Cockpit of Ju88

As seen over Templecombe

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Memories

Long time resident of the village, but only three and a half at the time, ArloCuss, has one memory of that night when his uncle, Bert Caines, who workedon the station, came into Arlo's home in Vine Street with his head ina bandage. Another of his memories is being able to see daylight throughthe Congregational Church roof. He also remembers that the Co-op store wasmoved after the bombing from it's normal location on Church Hillto Templecombe House where it was approached by an external flightof stairs.( Templecombe House was situated where The Hamlet now stands )

Mrs Barbara Rendell, who was a schoolgirl at the time, remembers that theschool was badly damaged and for some time pupils either attended morningor afternoon sessions due to lack of useable space.

Mrs Joyce Curtis (nee Sutton) was one of six children and nine years old atthe time and lived in one of the houses directly facing the station. Her fatherArchie was a ganger on the railway and also a Home Guard member and hermother Maria was of German extraction. She clearly remembers the bombingas her house was in direct line of the fourth bomb and after the attack led hertwo younger sisters downstairs as they were very frightened. Fortunately thewhole family were safe but had to walk in the dark to Yenston where they hadfriends. After sleeping on the floor at their friend’s house for a while they wereeventually relocated to a house in Westcombe. Despite having lost most oftheir possessions in the raid the fund collected to help residents was not ableto help the Suttons due to Mrs Suttons roots.

Mrs Jessie Hodges (nee Read) lived with her family in Gas House in RectoryRoad, now Throop Road, and when the explosions started was sent tumblingdown the stairs. Her Dad, Alf , was in the garden and pressed himself againstthe wall of the house as debris rained down. For a time they sheltered underthe kitchen table. Mrs Hodges remembers that an iron bedsted had landed onthe pilot engine of the Bath goods train that was on the curve to the lowerjunction. It’s brake van windows were also blown in. As the house was badlydamaged they spent the night with Mrs Morgan in the High Street.

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The raid on Templecombe was just one of four such raids in the area as CastleCary was bombed on 3rd September, Templecombe on 5th September,Somerton on 29th September and Chard on 23rd October.

At Castle Cary, as at Templecombe, the target was the railway system butat Somerton and Chard the milk factories may have been the target althoughsome railway property was damaged.

Fortunately, Templecombe was not targeted again by the Luftwaffe.

Interesting Footnote

The five cottages that were either destroyed or badly damaged in the raid weresold by the Fox family in August 1944 to the Bath and Wells Diocesan Trustees.The property was described as “Land and Garden Ground with the bombedremains of five cottages. Today the property is known as Church Garth andhas been substantially improved by it’s successive owners.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank members of the Parish who shared theirexperiences and also Alex Green who introduced me to a particularly pertinentbook relating to the damage to the station. Irwell Press have been most helpfulas they allowed me to use some photos from their book Main Line to the WestVolume 2 - Salisbury to Yeovil. Thanks also the the Reverend Peter Hallett forsearching his church records.

Original research was carried out at Somerset HER and Yeovil ReferenceLibrary.

© Martin Batchelor 2012

Mr David Peckham remembers the evening well as he and his cousin, JohnMason, were dozing in front of the fire whilst their younger sisters were in bed.His mother, father and Aunty May had gone to the Railway Hotel for a while.Both boys were suddenly awakened by a series of almighty bangs which shookthe foundations of the house and the blackout fell down from the window ontothe two boys. At this moment the girls arrived crying at the bottom of the stairs,they could hear people running and shouting and his parents soon arrivedhome. His mother declared that she would never leave the children alone atnight again. Mr Peckham also remembers that the school was badly damagedand because of the damage to the school buildings classes were held in halfday sessions with one group going in the morning and another group going inthe afternoon.

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The same view as on the cover in more recent times

Church Garth

The link line ran here

A bridge here took theline into the station

This document is not to be sold. It has been produced at the request of Abbasand Templecombe Parish Council as a memorial and history note to thosewho died and were wounded by the Luftwaffe bombing raid on 5th September1942.

The author would welcome notification of any further information on the raidthat might be raised by this document as well as any corrections. Pleasecontact the author via the Parish Clerk