This year marks a century
since the start of World War One. Features writer GAYLE McBAIN speaks
to one man who lost relatives in the terrifying Zeppelin raid on the
town — and tells of his battle to trace his family’s history.
A
TRAGIC tale of one family’s loss during World War One was endured
much closer to home than the muddy trenches of northern France.
The
Irwin family’s suffering was right here in Bolton when a bomb fell
in the night, killing 13 people and destroying six homes and
now grandson Geoff Irwin has been able to trace his family’s grave
— thanks to help from The
Bolton News.
Little
Ellen Margaret Irwin was just two-and-a-half years old when she lost
her life. Her 44-year-old mother, Bridget Ellen, would die clutching
her baby daughter, according to a report in the Bolton Chronicle at
the time.
Ellen
and her brothers and sisters, Joe, Annie, Jack and Letitia, had been
tucked up in bed for the night, thankfully blissfully unaware of the
horror that was just hours away.
The
family not doubt enjoyed an evening meal in the kitchen of their
terraced home before the children headed for bed, followed by their
parents.
They
would all be fast asleep when the bombs hit in the early hours.
Today,
Bridget and Joseph’s grandson, 74-year-old Geoff, who lives in
Heaton, wants their tragic story to be told. The engineering worker
said: “I think it is important we never forget World War One and
the innocent people who lost their lives.”
In
the early hours of September 26, 1916, five bombs were dropped over
rows of terraced houses in Kirk Street and John Street. Bridget’s
husband, Joseph, Joe, Annie Jack and Letitia would survive this
dreadful ordeal, but little Ellen and her mother did not.
When
the gigantic German airship — a naval Zeppelin L21, flew over
Bolton — it would not have been heard by the Irwin family and their
neighbors. Zeppelins were virtually silent, but deadly, machines that
would bring devastation to Britain and, on this occasion, the people
of Bolton.
When
the bombs dropped on Kirk Street there was a dramatic scramble to
safety by five members of the Irwin family who, it is thought, were
dragged from the rubble by rescuers, but Ellen and Bridget are
believed to have been killed straightaway.
Geoff
Irwin’s father, Jack (John) was Ellen’s brother and he survived
that horrific night.
The
German airship would have been a terrifying sight. It was almost 600
feet long and 60 feet in diameter.
The
bombs caused the most devastation to No 58 Kirk Street, where the
Irwins lived, and their neighbors homes at numbers 60, 62 and 64.
These
were neighbors who, undoubtedly, chatted over their garden walls,
borrowed cups of sugar from each other and helped out in times of
crisis. This would be a crisis that would rip the heart out of their
community.
Geoff
said his father never talked about what had happened on that dreadful
night and he only found out about it by chance after reading a book
about zeppelins he bought from Sweetens Bookshop in Bolton.
He
said: “I knew nothing about it. I think it must have been so
dreadful that he just never wanted to mention it again. I was shocked
to discover my family had been bombed.”
The
airship was commanded by Kurt Frankenburg who was, he says, an
experienced German officer and had a crew of 17. The zeppelin carried
a huge load of explosive and high incendiary bombs.
The
zeppelin was actually lost and it is thought Frankenburg believed he
was flying over Derby. He had already dropped bombs over Holcombe,
Rossendale and Ramsbottom, and a further two incendiaries over
Greenmount in Bury that night.
He
then drifted over Astley Bridge and Sharples
,
dropping a bomb that narrowly missed the Eden Orphanage. He then went
on to Halliwell
where
windows were broken by explosives in Darley Street.
The
next bomb destroyed a terraced House in Lodge Vale, but the three
women who lived there escaped with shock and minor injuries.
Incendiaries
fell on Waldeck Street and Chorley Old Road. From there the airship
passed over Queens Park, the River Croal and the railway lines.
Another
incendiary fell on Wellington Street, setting a house on fire and
trapping a woman and two children in an upstairs bedroom. Thankfully,
the fire brigade were able to save them.
At
this point no-one had been badly hurt.
Frankenburg,
possibly aiming at the Eagle Mill, then dropped the five bombs over
Kirk and John Streets. These rows of terraced houses connected Deane
Road and Derby Street at the point where the University of Bolton and
College Way now stand. There six houses were destroyed and 13 people
were killed.
The
Bolton Evening News of the day reported the event. The bombs had
“wrenched doors clean off their hinges and hurled them into rooms
beyond. All windows were shattered and even the frames splintered”.
Shrapnel
was gouged into the brick fronts of the houses and one resident was
thrown clean across the room and knocked out.
The
neighbors who died alongside Bridget and Ellen were Michael and
Martha O’Hara, who were next door neighbors at No 60 Kirk Street.
Michael was an iron worker and was aged 42 and Martha was 41.
William
and Ann McDermott and their five-year-old daughter, Mary Ellen, also
died. They lived at No 62, next to the O’Haras. William was aged 42
and a furnace man and Ann was 36. They were all buried in Tonge
Cemetery.
Mr
and Mrs James Allison and their lodgers, Frederick Guildford and
David Davis, at No 64, were killed too. Mr Guildford is buried in
Heaton Cemetery. He died at the Bolton Royal Infirmary and was 62. He
was a packing case maker. Mr Davis, aged 39, was a coal heaver. He is
buried in Tonge Cemetery.
Elizabeth
Gregory, aged 42, of 66 Kirk Street and her 17-year-old daughter,
Ellen are buried in Heaton Cemetery. Elizabeth’s husband, Robert,
and their five-year-old son escaped
Joseph
Irwin and his four children were rescued from their home. There were
five people seriously injured and a horse was killed in Back John
Street.
Relays
of firemen and volunteer rescuers worked through the night and the
survivors were taken to Flash Street Special School.
But
Frankenburg and his men had not finished with the town yet. The
airship swung in a tight turn, passing over Great Moor Street, the
junction of Deansgate, Spa Road, Moor Lane and Marsden Road, passing
near the Bolton Royal Infirmary and then dropped a bomb on a flower
bed in Queens Park.
Then
turning south it passed over Gilnow Mill, it recrossed the railway
lines and dropped bombs on Rope Walk in Washington Street and the
Co-op Laundry in Back Deane Road. Although there was damage to
properties, no-one was hurt.
It
then crossed Deane Road and flew over Quebec Street and Cannon Street
before arriving at Ormerod and Hardcastle Mill in Daubhill. Here an
incendiary bomb started a fire which was put out by the mill’s
sprinkler system.
Another
bomb broke windows and smashed the back privies in Parrot and Apple
Streets.
Frankenburg
then turned north and dropped a bomb that hit Trinity Church but
failed to explode. The last three bombs of this raid were scattered
around Bolton Town Hall, hitting Mawdsley Street, Ashburner Street
and Mealhouse Lane.
Then
it left Bolton and headed back to its base in Nordholz. The zeppelin
and the pilot who had caused such devastation to Bolton would be shot
down two months later over the Yorkshire coast with the loss of all
men on board.
Almost
six months earlier, the Zeppelin L21 had attacked Cleethorpes,
dropping several bombs on the town just after midnight.
One
landed on the Alexandra Road Baptist Chapel, killing 31 soldiers of
the 3rd Battalion the Manchester Regiment, who were billeted there.
It was one of the only British Army units to be directly engaged by
enemy action on British soil during the war.
The
story of how Bolton dealt with this unexpected event is thought to
have been varied.
Apparently
people rushed on to the streets some were scared, some angry, but
some were simply curious. They had never seen anything like this
before.
The
bomb site would draw crowds in for days following the disaster, with
some people traveling from as far afield as Liverpool to survey the
damage.
While
the tiny houses would bear the brunt of the bombing, Holy Trinity
Church in Trinity Street was also hit during the raid.
At
8.30am on September 26, 1916, verger Thomas Sanderson opened the
doors to the church to discover a hole in the roof and bits of a bomb
that had broken open on impact but not exploded.
He
immediately reported his discovery to the vicar and went to Bolton
Town Hall to make a report to the police.
This
bombing on Bolton was part of a raiding party of seven zeppelins that
crossed the British coastline at 9.45pm on Monday, September 25, and
left at 3.05 am the next day.
Rumour
has it that one little Bolton girl, whose sixth birthday was on the
day of the raid, looked out of her bedroom window and said to her
sister: “Oh look? A beautiful big balloon for my birthday.”
While
we can never prove or disprove this story one thing is certain —
the lives of the Irwin family had changed forever.
The
grave of neighbours William and Ann McDermott and their little
daughter, Mary Ellen, is just a few steps away from that of Bridget
and Ellen Irwin in Tonge Cemetery.
Perhaps
those neighbours who had survived this dreadful night will have
gathered at both gravesides to pay their last respects at funerals
held at the end of September and early October, in 1916.
The
funerals appear to have been held on different days — it would give
family, friends and neighbours the opportunity to be present at the
funerals of those who had died alongside their own.
Geoff
Irwin made an emotional trip to the graveside of his grandmother and
aunt to lay flowers and remember the family members he never knew.
In
a peaceful, sunlit, Tonge Cemetery he laid a bouquet of pink flowers.
He
has no photographs of his family — they lost everything when their
home was destroyed — but now he has a place to remember them.
He
said: “It has been an important visit for me and I am pleased to
have been able to see where my grandmother and my aunt are buried.
“It
is such a sad story but it is one that needs to be told.
“I
imagine my father simply blocked out what had happened to him. He
lost his mother and his sister and probably never wanted to relive
that awful night.”
• Thanks
to help from Bolton Council we were able to find the graves of those
who died in the bombing.
The
Bolton News has traced the graves of most of the other victims of
this devastating night and wonder if there are any descendants in
Bolton who would want to share memories with us.
A
headstone marks the spot where Frederick Guildford is buried in
Heaton Cemetery. He is buried with his 14-year-old daughter, Harriet,
who died in 1894.
There
is no headstone to mark the grave of Elizabeth and Ellen Gregory, but
it is clear someone has tended the grave in recent years as
artificial flowers have been laid there and small stones with the
words “loving wife” and “grandma” on them.
The
gravestone of William and Ann McDermott and their daughter Mary Ellen
is overgrown and the lettering is fading, but it is possible to just
make out a reference to them being “killed” as a result of an
aircraft.
Anyone
looking for cemetery records can do so by accessing
deceasedonline.co.uk where all Bolton cemetery records are now kept.
The records contain information about graves in the town’s
cemeteries but not in church graveyards.
