Wainfleet Bombed - Narrow Miss for Historical Building

Wainfleet Bombed - Narrow Miss for Historical Building

Written by Angela Gooch on March 29th, 2008 in Schools, War and Military.

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Continuing in the cryptic vein of war-time style of reporting, the following story gives an account of an enemy air raid attack on Wainfleet near Skegness.
Local townsfolk on reading the news article would have known that it was in fact the Magdalen College School which was founded in 1484 by William of Waynflete, bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England. He first founded Magdalen College, Oxford and later established this school in his place of birth.
The title of the article described the attack has having “no military value”. This maybe so, but was there another stratigic plan? Perhaps to lower moral? Perhaps to hit out at the very core of British heritage by destroying a fourteenth century building?

November 1940

LINCOLNSHIRE HAVEN TOWN BOMBED
SEVERAL MIRACULOUS ESCAPES
BAKER AND WIFE KILLED
NO MILITARY OBJECTIVES, BUT ATTACKED IN DAYLIGHT HOURS

A small Lincolnshire haven town was bombed in broad daylight last week-end. It possesses no military objective of any kind, and from all accounts it would appear that the enemy raider had the old 14th century school as its objective, but the three bombs which were dropped all missed by a few yards.
The town was the birthplace of a man who attained fame. He founded an Oxford College, and later became Lord Chancellor of England.

A middle-aged baker and his wife, Mr and Mrs William Cram, were killed. Another lady, Miss Reed, an evacuee from London, had to be taken to the Cottage Hospital of a neighbouring seaside resort. She was injured by falling debris, from which she was rescued by hard-working air raid wardens after strenuous efforts to clear away the wreckage of fallen property. She is making
good progress to recovery.

DAMAGE TO PROPERTY
Damage of one kind or another was done to sixty houses, the breaking of windows being the chief trouble.
One bomb created a huge crater in one street near the ancient school. The blast blew one cottage to smithereens, and almost demolished another. Mercifully the occupants of the former, Mr. and Mrs. Britliff, were away from home, but Mrs. Stothard and two children who were in the damaged cottage adjoining, had a miraculous escape.

STRADLED BY BOMBS
The home of the parents of a Skegness head shop assistant, Miss L. Twigg, was another which had a marvellous escape, it being straddled by bombs on either side. Mr. and Mrs. Twigg both escaped with only minor injuries.
The ground of “The Vinery,” the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Allen, received one of the bombs, but both Mr. and Mrs. Allen were absent at the time. Mrs. Allen (nee Betty Burn) was formerly a Skegness resident, and is now engaged in the teaching profession. Her husband is a member of the Skegness and District Cricket and Hockey Club.
The third bomb fell in a field on the other side of the railway, some yards to the rear of the Church.

A DIRECT HIT
The bomb which killed Mr. and Mrs. Cram was almost a direct hit on the bakehouse. Mr. Cram’s body was found afterwards among adjoining damaged property, and Mrs. Cram was blown out into the main street.