At the weekend, top local history sort [Howmuch?] pointed this out to me, and we’ve decided to ask for opinions. This is just speculation, but seems an interesting point. I welcome any information that readers can contribute.
We’ve visited several times here the story of the Hermann 2,240 pound unexploded World War II bomb found in a quarry in Walsall Wood by an unassuming excavator operator in 1968. Whilst studying the excellent 1945 aerial images of the area on Google Earth, [Howmuch?] suddenly came over all Tamworth Time Hikes and spotted a witness in the landscape of Jockey Meadows that remains to this day.
Google earth imagery dated 1945. The Lichfield Road runs top right to bottom left. North of it, there appear to be possibly two reasonably fresh craters. It may be possible that the pool directly to the south was so caused. Was this the same raid that dropped Hermann?
62-odd years later, this 2007 image shows fresh and strong vegetation around the still visible scars, consistent possibly with disturbed earth. To the south, of course, there's now a marlpit, latterly a domestic landfill site. Click for a large version.
What do you know about wartime air raids in Walsall Wood, Brownhills and Aldridge? It’s interesting to see that the excavation on the south side of the Lichfield Road didn’t yet exist during the war, so where was Hermann actually found? Did we have many bombs dropped in the locality, or was it a thankfully rare occurance? Is this really bomb damage, or something else?
If you have anything to add, please do comment here or mail me at BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.