Watch memorial to Second World War bombing victims unveiled in Derbyshire

A memorial was installed last week for the victims of a wartime bombing raid on a Derbyshire village.
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Tupton was struck by tragedy on March 15 in 1941, when the village was bombed by German aircraft.

There were 11 casualties during the raid, including two babies. The Higgs and Howe families, who lived next door to each other, died after their homes were hit, the former along with their six-month-old daughter and the latter with their one-year-old son.

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Pam Windley, secretary of the Tupton Local History Society, said: “Some residents told of waking up to see the sky from their beds, another lady told of, as a child, being comforted by her mother and taken downstairs - unfortunately her mother did not survive. Others remembered the stretchers with the bodies being taken away.

The plaque has been installed in the community gardens in Tupton.The plaque has been installed in the community gardens in Tupton.
The plaque has been installed in the community gardens in Tupton.

“It was a terrible night for such a small community and I'm sure a shockwave must have gone through the village.”

The memorial was unveiled in the community gardens at 11am on Thursday, November 18 by Arlene Findley, a survivor of the raid.

Mrs Findley had a lucky escape as she was hiding in her parents’ bedroom when debris smashed through their roof and straight through her own bed.

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Cllr David Hancock, who represents the village, said it was important to install a memorial while there were still living survivors, to pay respect to those who died in their own homes.

“Tupton has always been a close-knit community. Even though we’re several generations on, many of us are related to the people who lived in the village back then; and, given how tightly packed the houses were, there’s a strong sense that, just a few metres in any direction, and it could have been our families who died.

“We felt we needed a tangible memorial; and with 2021 being the 80th anniversary of the bombing, it seemed likely that it would be one of the last significant opportunities to put something in place while there were still living survivors.

“I wanted something that respected how those residents died. It wasn’t on a battlefield, they were killed in their own damaged homes. As such, an incomplete wall of reclaimed brick seemed the most poignant way of expressing that.”