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The first British civilian casualty of the war was Jim Isbister following a German air-raid on the naval base at Scapa Flow on the Orkney Islands, Scotland, on March 16, 1940.On 30 April 1940, the mainland of Britain suffered its first civilian casualties when a German mine-laying bomber was shot down and crashed into the garden of a house at Clacton, Essex, England. After tearing its way through several houses, it blew up. Two people, Frederick and Dorothy Gill the occupants of one of the houses, in addition to the crew were killed, and 160 were injured.The top photograph conveys some idea of the extent of the damage. The mass of twisted metal in the last picture is one of the engines of the machine, this can also be seen on the left of the second photograph. In the third photograph is seen all that was left of the aeroplane, a Heinkel 111.
Copyright © 2002 Peter N. Risbey.