The day the doodlebug fell on Tudhoe

It would seem that the doodlebug blew up in mid-air - somewhere above roof level - and the biggest chunk of it to survive was the nose portion that fell to earth on Tudhoe Cricket Club. Last week, I suggested it landed on the pavilion, but I now know that not to be the case, because by chance, yesterday I was giving a talk to Spennymoor Probus in Tudhoe Cricket Club.

The old wooden pavilion was in the opposite corner of the ground to where the new clubhouse is. The clubhouse is very close to the spot where the doodlebug landed; in fact, unknowingly I parked my car on the grass practically precisely where it came to earth.

Among those listening to me burble on was Cecil Lowes who remembers the moment the doodlebug fell to earth. This is what he told me:

I lived at 254 Back Row, Tudhoe Colliery, - there was Middle Row and Front Street, but only Front Street stands now - and behind us there was an ammunition hut.

The sirens went and everybody was told go under the stairs, it was always the safest place. I was six years old at the time, and my mam got three of us down and under the stairs and then you had to black out, so she went to the curtains or blinds and as she did the window blew and the glass came in, and then the front door blew open and she suddenly remembered Trevor, he was only one or so and couldnt walk and had been left in one of the bedrooms - there were only two. She went upstairs and the ceiling had come down on top of the bed and he was underneath, black with all the soot but alright.

It was mayhem outside. Most of the people wanted to see what had happened. We lived about 500 yards away from where it had landed, so we came across the cricket field and saw it. It was fantastic for a six-year-old. It was sitting on top of the grass tennis courts that used to be in the corner of the cricket field near the vicarage, but the crater was only 1ft or 2ft deep, very black all around, but only about the size of that snooker table.