East anglia's first german bomb of ww2

It is recorded that the first enemy bomb to fall on East Anglia was at 01:55 on 22 MAY 1940, seventy years ago.

The 50 kg HE bomb landed in the south east corner of a field located to the west of Butley Village church and was dropped, probably, by an Heinkel 111. The crater would have been around 4 metres in diameter and one metre deep.

So, about here, just east of Woodbridge airfield: (sorry but Where's the Path is not opening for me today)

www.flashearth.com/?lat=52.097426&lon=1....&z=16.1&r=0&src="msl"

Plenty of East Anglican residents on AiX so hands up who lives nearest.

I was out that way last week Peter, funny you should mention this as we have come across a few 'craters' one of which is in Daisy's Walk at Butley Corner

Here is the pic of Butley Church with its thatched Nave, must have a look the next time I'm out that way

[Dead link removed]

I shall see if I can find something in the local records in order to be specific with the location. The church is quite a way south of the village.

I'd be interested to know what the source of the original information on the 22 May 1940 bomb was? Possibly MJFB's "Air Raid!"? I know EA (Enemy Aircraft) were active that night, and bombs were dropped in the sea off Felixstowe, but a printed list of enemy action in East Suffolk I have has nothing until the He 115 crashed at Eyke on 7 June 1940.

BC;141279 wrote:

I'd be interested to know what the source of the original information on the 22 May 1940 bomb was? Possibly MJFB's "Air Raid!"? I know EA (Enemy Aircraft) were active that night, and bombs were dropped in the sea off Felixstowe, but a printed list of enemy action in East Suffolk I have has nothing until the He 115 crashed at Eyke on 7 June 1940.

Not the first German bomb in this area I know but one that I remember!! This was a landmine which completely destroyed Lt Horkesley church (St Peter and St Paul) in September 1940. This was between my home and my grandmother's house and I was taken, on the back of my mother's bicycle, to view the devastation. Not strictly East Anglia I guess as Lt Horkesley is just over the River Stour on the Essex side.

Just a reminder Peter, we are East Anglians, East Anglicans are something quite different I believe!!

"East Anglia"? Well, if you watch the reports on "ITV Anglia News" in the evening, you'll see that Leicestershire, S Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, and Essex, as well as Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk are all apparently part of it? We even had a report on the move of the set of Coronation Street 3 miles from Manchester to Trafford a few weeks ago. God alone knows what tenuous link THAT has with East Anglia?

The He 115 at Eyke was carrying a magnetic mine which exploded in the crash, destroying the aircraft and causing blast damage to the Rectory and other houses. One of the crew survived badly injured but died in hospital in Ipswich two days later.

BC