The Rogerstone Directory - History Articles
A strange happening indeed
The incident that happened at the top end of Rogerstone just after nine o'clock
in the evening of Tuesday 7th October 1941 produced some of the strangest little
stories ever recorded in the annals of the area.
However, none was more unusual than that of our well remembered resident Mr Ben
Hodson, who lived at number one The Uplands, with his wife and three small boys.
Ben was in his garden when he saw a floating type object descending presumably
from a German bomber which had just passed over the village. Ever ready for a
challenge he armed himself with a broomstick thinking that the object suspended
underneath could be a flying Nazi intent on causing some harm to the population,
and hoping that he could carry out an heroic arrest. This was not to be, as he
only got as far as his garden wall when the thing went off with a bang which
could be heard for miles around.
The blast from the explosion demolished the wall and Ben was enveloped in a
quantity of bricks and mortar. After some effort he was able to extricate
himself and then discovered that he had narrowly escaped being struck by a
Flying Cherub, not a common thing in 1941. The airborne cast iron cherub,
weighing about ten pounds although standing only inches high, was firmly
embedded in the ground next to him. What a lucky escape for our would be hero.
A careful study of the area has indicated that the creature probably took off
from a garden in Park Avenue as a result of the explosion of a parachute mine.
Lord knows how high it flew before landing alongside Ben in his garden in the
Uplands.
This cherub became part of the Hodson family and sixty six years later is in the
possession of David, the youngest son, who lives in Newport. Although David has
and will continue to give it a good home, if we can find the original owner he
will willingly return it. Perhaps one of our readers can recall such a thing in
a garden all those years ago. The photo depicts it as at present. Any clues can
be passed to me through the Editor, Susan Woolford.
In the July-August edition there were, in connection with the little Girl's
Story, two photographs of Park Avenue after the air raid in September 1941. An
appeal for information leading to the identification of the three ladies
in the larger shot, produced a result in the form of a call from Mr Brian
Sullivan of Bassaleg, who said that the lady in the left background was his
mother and the person in the left foreground his Aunt, Mrs Perrot, who at the
time was housekeeper to Mr Bill Davies who lived in Park Avenue.
The identity of the other lady remains a mystery...
As a matter of interest, Mr Davies had two daughters, Barbara and Rosemary, both
of whom survived the incident as they were at the time with Mrs Sullivan at No
100 the Uplands, a little distance from the actual incident. Barbara now resides
in Canada and Rosemary married Jack Turley and lives in Pembroke.
Thank you Brian for your interest and help in partially solving another mystery
of local history.
Vernon Morgan - a member of the Rogerstone Local History Group
Rogerstone Local History Society will be presenting a plaque to commemorate the
people of Rogerstone who lost their lives during the air raids and bombing at
Glasllwch Crescent on the 31st May and Park Avenue on the 7th October 1941. This
new plaque is to be mounted, alongside other memorial plaques of soldiers from
Rogerstone who died during the World Wars, in Rogerstone Library.
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