Kirby Muxloe The Bombing
The Free Church Kirby Muxloe after the Bombing of November 1940. Photograph Bob Townsend Collection
The Bombing of Kirby Muxloe
No one ever thought that the village would be a target for enemy bombers. Was it a target or was it a miscalculation, or just an accident or error? We may have theories but we will never truly know. However, what we do know is what happened next: It was 8.20 in the evening on a clear cold night on the 19th November 1940. Enemy bombers were aiming to reach Leicester and this became known as the "Leicester Blitz". The planes approached from the north west, we may ask why? Some theories say that they were returning from a raid on Coventry, however, that seems unlikely, as Coventry was bombed on the 14th November, just a few nights before. There was some bombing on Coventry that night but nothing significant. Were the planes planning to bomb Desford Airport or Braunstone (Leicester Municipal Airport), or the railway line? These were all within a short distance from Kirby Muxloe. That evening, just before 8:20pm, a young man stepped out of a house where he was visiting his girlfriend. Her house was opposite the Free Church and he just wanted some fresh air and a cigarette. He looked up into the clear sky and saw something floating down, it almost had the shape of a man. He stepped back into the house and was just starting to explain what he had seen in the sky, when Bang! A 500kg parachute bomb, sometimes referred to as a land mine, had fallen on or to the side of the Free Church. Another had landed slightly down Station Road, next to a house named "The Chalet". The house where the young man stood had been decimated. The middle wall was still standing but all around them was debris and smoke, and soot, lots of soot, which came down from the chimney and covered everyone and everything. The blast caused a ripple effect, which lifted the roofs on Station Road and many more on Barwell Road. It lifted them up and then set them down again, in almost the same place, but not quite. To this day if an older house is sold in one of these areas, when a surveyor looks into the roof they often exclaim "there's something strange here, the roof doesn't look quite right" This was caused by the roof being set down in a slightly different place. Most roads in the village were affected and the rumble and rattle of windows was even felt on Station Road in Ratby. All together 360 houses were damaged, 7 demolished and the whole village was in disarray. Amazingly there were no fatalities. Sadly, one elderly lady died later, due to shock. The Parish Church lost its west window and a water main burst on Blood's Hill. Later that night, possibly prompted by the search lights and fire, two more enemy aircraft dropped 24 high explosive (H.E. bombs) bombs on Blood's Hill and on the fields towards Glenfield. The next morning it was reported that a cover of a bomb was found under Gullet Lane bridge. Where was the bomb? Did it belong to the bombs already dropped, or did it drop but not explode? The day after the bombing children, not at the junior school that day were out and about collecting souvenirs, pieces of parachute silk, bits of rope, shrapnel and strips of silver paper, wich were dropped by the enemy aircraft in order to confuse the radar systems. 500kg bombs were often dropped in pairs and also dropped when the aircraft was flying very low; the parachute attached to the bomb slowing the decent to enable the aircraft to get away before the explosion.
The Sunday School part of the Free Church on Church Rd Photo: The Wilshere Collection
The Manse on Church Road. Photo: Will Walker
The Manse, Church Road, demolished after the bombing -Will Walker Collection