The St Barbe Museum have made an interesting post on Facebook about a local 'bombing' on Keyhaven:
Did you know that on Tuesday 8 November 1938 four bombs were dropped on Keyhaven … by mistake?
Robert MacWhirter was a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm, flying aircraft for the Royal Navy. Whenever he flew over Keyhaven he would drop off a parcel of washing for his Mum, who lived in a cottage at Iley Point!! If he missed her garden she would row out to sea to collect it - that’s mothers for you!
But on that Tuesday, instead of dropping his laundry he released four smoke bombs! One fell on the front lawn of Keyhaven House, two at Salt Grass and one in the garden of Salt Grass Cottage… the weekend home of an Air Marshall! Fortunately, the pins were still in the bombs so none of them exploded.
The incident made five national newspapers, but Robert wasn’t mentioned so we’re not sure if he was ever found out!
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| Image: One of the planes flown by Robert MacWhirter from St Barbe Collection *click image to enlarge |
St Barbe Museum
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