A READER has sent me a list of where all 30 doodlebugs landed on Christmas Eve, 1944. They were fired from Heinkels approaching the east coast, and most were aimed at Manchester. They fell across a broad swathe of land around Grimsby, Doncaster, Leeds and Oldham. In the latter town, 35 people were killed.
Doodlebugs fired from Heinkels were extremely inaccurate - hence the most northerly landed on Tudhoe, as this morning's Memories explains. It was also very dangerous for the Heinkel pilot. His plane became an unstable flying bomb. It had great difficulty reaching any height and so was flown practically at wavetop level to try to defeat the British radar. Some doodlebugs fell off other Heinkels so he had to dodge them - about 40 were fired that Christmas Eve but only 30 made landfall, the rest tumbling into the sea.
And when he launched his doodlebug, it was like someone had turned a spotlight on him. For two minutes he was fully visible to any British fighter who cared to take a potshot at him.
There's been a great deal of interest in the Tudhoe doodlebug: many thanks to everyone who has been in touch about it.
Here's the list and the time they landed:
Cheshire
Kelsall 6.22am
Ollerton 6.05am
Henbury 5.45am
Macclesfield forest 6.10am
Stockport 5.30am
Hyde 6.25am
Shropshire
Newport 5.40am
Lancashire
Oldham 5.50am
Didsbury 5.30am
Worsley 5.30am
Radcliffe 5.56am
Tottington 5.50am
Turton 5.44am
Oswaldtwistle 6.00am
Brindle 5.28am
Derbyshire
Buxton 5.50am
Chapel-en-le-Frith 5.45am
Beighton 5.40am
Nottinghamshire
Sturton le Steeple 5.45am
Lincolnshire Redbourne 5.40am
Epworth 5.48am
Yorkshire
Rossington 6.00am
Grange Moor 5.35am
Midhope Moor 5.45am
Sowerby Bridge 6.00am
Willerby 5.45am
South Cliffe unknown
Barmby Moor, Pocklington 5.50am
County Durham
Tudhoe 6.05am
Northamptonshire
Woodford 5.30am
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