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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Photo-a-Day Archive
Photo-a-Day Archive

Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 22nd October, 2013)

Bomb crater


Bomb crater
This photo is one of a bomb crater caused by a German bomb dropped in November 1940 during a raid on Liverpool. The photo was taken by me a short while ago and it is about four miles from Wigan. I wonder if any of our WW friends can guess where it is.

Photo: Tom Waterhouse  (Fuji FinePix A500)
Views: 4,888

Comment by: alan on 22nd October 2013 at 00:24

Parbold ?

Comment by: abramer on 22nd October 2013 at 00:31

back of dover lock abram

Comment by: broady on 22nd October 2013 at 01:11

Looks very much like the back of the Dover at Abram. I can see the Finney Bridge. We lived at 446 Warrington Road and at the back of our House was a big hole in the field caused by a bomb also.

Comment by: Jimmy edwards on 22nd October 2013 at 02:28

Could it be clinker valley across Warrington Rd from Spring View Cricket Club

Comment by: kath on 22nd October 2013 at 07:09

wow! lucky it missed the houses!

Comment by: maggie on 22nd October 2013 at 08:58

I remember my Mum taking me out in the street one evening. She pointed to a glow in the sky in one direction & said "That's Liverpool burning", she then did the same to another glow & said "That's Manchester burning".

Comment by: peterp on 22nd October 2013 at 09:29

How many of these bomb holes are just natural undulations in the ground. Why have a bomb bay full of bombs drop them all bar one on Liverpool/Manchester then suddenly drop one bomb in the middle of nowhere?

Comment by: Mick on 22nd October 2013 at 09:31

Its behind a pub that got a picture of the canal boat Anjodi on its pub sign

Anjodi was the boat Rick Stein used on one of his french cooking adventures.

Comment by: WN1 Standisher on 22nd October 2013 at 09:47

They were dropped to save weight for the flight back home if they had any bombs left on board by the time they had to leave. It was the done thing to look for targets that would cause some disruption like canalways, rail networks, factories etc. This looks like the stretch of canal near Dover Lock was the target. Some were dropped near Wigan and on Bradley in Standish, trying to hit the munitions factory.

Comment by: Ernest Pyke on 22nd October 2013 at 11:00

Tom; I know of three places where a German bomb dropped in Wigan in World War 2, but this isn`t one of them !
Can find only one photo showing the damage caused - it`s #14200, last on 1st row in Album, Assorted, World War 2. On this page are two photo`s of a German bomber on display on Wigan Market Square in December 1940.

Comment by: Chuck Turner on 22nd October 2013 at 16:38

I have never seen, of the many photos on WW,a picture of the Haigh Windmill with a person included for SIZE reference.-----Chuck in the USA

Comment by: Ellen on 22nd October 2013 at 18:18

Maggie, I have similar memories; In fact, one of my earliest memories is of standing at my bedroom window, looking at the glow in the sky that was Liverpool burning, having been wakened by the noise of shrapnel hitting the roof from the anti-aircraft battery defending Liverpool.

Comment by: Neil Rigby on 22nd October 2013 at 19:14

The main reason(s) why bombs were 'discarded' was not to save weight (although is was important). If a returning aircraft was attacked, it would be less likely to explode if it were not carrying bombs! Furthermore, if it were carrying bombs and was shot down, it might 'bomb' ones own people and homeland. It is not a good idea to land an aircraft carrying a bomb load. Having said this, saving weight would be good idea when it come to survival because a returning aircraft could fly faster, be more manoeuvrable (when avoiding attack) and extend the flying range in case the planned returning airfield was not available. It is quite possible that an aircraft could not actually return to home airfield without reducing weight due to bomb load.

Even today, airliner jet aircraft will not land 'heavy' (e.g. in an emergency landing) unless they really have to. Pilots will dump fuel to reduce the possibility of heavy landings, which might cause burst tyres, undercarriage damage, running off the end of the runway because the aircraft is more difficult to stop.

Comment by: Tom Waterhouse on 22nd October 2013 at 19:52

Just to put you out of your misery regarding todays p.o.d .The photo was taken in the Finney fields at Dover.Abram as some people quite rightly said.The building in the background is a pub which used to be called the Red Lion. At least four bombs dropped in that area , just missing the main North/South railway line by about five yards.

Comment by: Kath on 22nd October 2013 at 20:53

We have walked that way many a time from Lowton and wondered what had caused the lumps and bumps and then walking back from three sisters called at the Dover Lock for a well deserved lager even in the rain

Comment by: Jean F (Wales) on 22nd October 2013 at 21:00

Whatever the story ,this ia a lovely peaceful photo.
Thankyou Tom.

Comment by: steve on 22nd October 2013 at 21:03

I remember during WW2 as kids we were playing at the end of Sydney St Platt Bridge it was just going dark. Suddenly we heard two loud explosions,needless to say we all ran off home.The following day we learned two bombs had been dropped by a German aircraft close to the GC railway line alongside the pool were we used to swim.

Comment by: baz on 24th October 2013 at 09:38

your all right its at the back of the dover lock pub I drink in there..yes it was to lose weight of the plane(but one got to close and blow all the windows that you see in the picture(theres an old guy called brian he knows allot of history about what happened nip in hes in every day(good pub to)

Comment by: Andy on 24th July 2015 at 14:07

Well spotted Joe. I never knew that. cheers

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