Broomhill Christian Mission

[janwhin]

In 1891 my great grandfather was a trustee of the hall and was hauled in front of Alnwick magistrates for allowing the hall to be occupied before the sanitary authority had issued a license confirming that the property had a good and wholesome water supply. The authority had refused a certificate on the basis that there was no supply nearby. The ground floor was a dwelling and first floor was the hall, situated at the north end of Togston Terrace. It turned into a bit of a joke because it had no worse access to water than anywhere else in the village. The hall was a methodist establishment and by 1902 there was a church and foundation stones laid for an extension for a hall and class rooms. This seems to be where the Church of Christ is now, built to replace the original when it was destroyed in 1939 when a bomber crashed into it. I don't know whether anyone has more info? Photo below shows the extended church in I think 1908 when the then Prince of Wales visited Northumberland.

[janwhin]

The story of the crash which destroyed the church on 21 December 1939 appears in Brian Pears NE War Diary but basically a Hampden bomber was shot down mistakenly by Spitfires as it was making its way to Acklington, short of fuel. I haven't been able to find a newspaper report (yet) but 2 crew members were killed, Sgt SH Potts (Chevington cemetery) and AC1 E Humphrey. It seems that one local was also killed and one injured. There is another thread on Rootsweb which suggests that local men rescued some of the crew and one received the George Medal.

[Alan J.]

This incident is refered to in J H Hardy's " In this quiet lane". As stated the plane ran out of fuel whilst attempting to land at Acklington and two of the crew were killed. 100 children were having a christmas party in the nearby school and two of the Longstaff brothers, the bus people, were among those who helped to rescue the crew members. Robert Longstaff was awarded MBE for his part in the rescue, live ammunition was exploding during the rescue. It was reported in the Morpeth Herald but there is no mention of spitfires shooting it down. ( Pages 9 and 10 of the book.)

[Coquet]

Brave men. I would be heading in the opposite direction.

(MBE) from the London Gazette:

17th May, 1940.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the following Award: —
The Medal of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for Meritorious Service: —
Robert Longstaff, Proprietor of the Togston Garage, North Broomhill.
On December 27th, 1939, a Hampden bomber of the Royal Air Force was returning from an operation over enemy territory. On preparing to land, the aircraft crashed within 500 yards of the boundary of the aerodrome and burst into flames. The pilot of the aircraft was seriously injured and the other two members of the crew were killed.
Mr. Robert and Mr. George Longstaff, who are proprietors of a garage in the vicinity of the aerodrome, heard the noise of the crash and immediately went to the scene with fire extinguishers. On arrival they found the aircraft on fire, but Mr. Robert Longstaff managed to get the pilot clear of the machine by cutting some of the rigging with which he had became entangled. He then, with Mr. George Longstaff, made attempts to rescue the other two airmen who were trapped in the fuselage. They were warned that there might be bombs on the aircraft, but they continued to use their utmost efforts, in spite of the fact that machine-gun ammunition was exploding and the flames increasing in severity. It was only when the heat became altogether too intense that they gave up their efforts to free the airmen.

[Coquet]

I've heard the friendly fire story before but don't know what the source of that is. If it was true nothing would be published at the time; it would have to come later from the MoD or Squadron records I think.

[janwhin]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Alan, The Quiet Lane should have been my first port of call, sorry John Hardy The photograph of the crash site is a useful comparison with my 1908 photo.

As far as the friendly fire issue is concerned, there is a write up on 49 Squadron's Roll of Honour for Sgt Potts, see http://www.49squadron.co.uk/Roll%20o.../Potts_SH.html It is not clear from that whether this particular bomber crashed from lack of fuel or whether it had also been hit by a Spitfire, probably the former.

[pineman]

Originally Posted by Coquet

I've heard the friendly fire story before but don't know what the source of that is. If it was true nothing would be published at the time; it would have to come later from the MoD or Squadron records I think.

hi again Coquet!
as usual looking through some old threads ,came across this one about the Hamden Bomber, i feel that i must mention that i had a grandstand view of this
crash. i was working for H.Smails at the time (only 15) i heard the planes coming in, and stood at the gate, watching them land, except this particular one.as he made to land a red flare came up,he then flew around to come back over the Trap (pub), the engines sounded ropey, he was losing height all the
time, just missed Broughs store then bang into the chappell .
being a young lad at the time i got a fright. the rest is what you have read about still makes me shiver when i think about it....

[Derilda]

Originally Posted by janwhin

In 1891 my great grandfather was a trustee of the hall and was hauled in front of Alnwick magistrates for allowing the hall to be occupied before the sanitary authority had issued a license confirming that the property had a good and wholesome water supply. The authority had refused a certificate on the basis that there was no supply nearby. The ground floor was a dwelling and first floor was the hall, situated at the north end of Togston Terrace. It turned into a bit of a joke because it had no worse access to water than anywhere else in the village. The hall was a methodist establishment and by 1902 there was a church and foundation stones laid for an extension for a hall and class rooms. This seems to be where the Church of Christ is now, built to replace the original when it was destroyed in 1939 when a bomber crashed into it. I don't know whether anyone has more info? Photo below shows the extended church in I think 1908 when the then Prince of Wales visited Northumberland.

Can I just add a little to this topic. Visitors to the site from outside of Northumberland may get confused about where the Christian Mission is. It is situated on Chapel Row, North Broomhill, just past the south east end of Togston Terrace. The chapel that the Hampden crashed onto in 1939, and rebuilt post war, is the Church of Christ, on the opposite side of the road from Togston Crescent.
I haven't been near the Christian Mission for several years I must confess but, viewing on Google Earth shows it to be in a bad state of repair.
Just thought I would try and clear any confusion. The two street names are very similar.

[janwhin]

Derilda, thanks for the clarification it makes more sense in terms of my photograph. My dad was most likely baptised at the chapel but he only ever spoke about the church, because of it being flattened. I merged the two in my head

I don't know, one of my sisters lived in Turnbull's Buildings years ago and my uncle had a garage at the Acklington Road junction, opposite the church.

[Derilda]

Originally Posted by janwhin

Derilda, thanks for the clarification it makes more sense in terms of my photograph. My dad was most likely baptised at the chapel but he only ever spoke about the church, because of it being flattened. I merged the two in my head

I don't know, one of my sisters lived in Turnbull's Buildings years ago and my uncle had a garage at the Acklington Road junction, opposite the church.

That would be Billy Whinham and Johnny Park. (Excuse if I have got spelling wrong) Their garage was on the west end of Togston Crescent and must have had a near miss when the Hampden crashed. I hope they were both out on their rounds when that happened.
They travelled various districts selling paraffin and all manner of goods that, usually, were not available to outlying areas. I also remember another occasion, when Herbie Smailes' garage had a major blaze, just a little up Acklington Road from them. Possibly about 1947.

[janwhin]

Yes, my uncle was Bill Whinham, he tended to visit the more remote country areas with his van, Johnny Park was more local to Broomhill.