RAIDERS ATTACK NORTH TOWN

STREET MACHINE-GUNNED BY ENEMY ‘PLANES
Bomb demolishes house: three persons killed

Three enemy ‘planes made a surprise raid on the North of Scotland town early on Saturday evening, attacking with machine-gun fire and bombs. Three persons were killed-one woman and two children- by a bomb which scored a direct hit on a house. Two others were seriously hurt, and eleven escaped with minor injuries.

‘Planes Seen
When the raid took place most people were in their homes, but a number were engaged in shopping and the majority of shops were open.
The ‘planes were clearly visible they approached from a southerly direction. Two were close together, and a third came from the south-east.
Flying very low, they swooped over the house-tops, machine-gunned part of the town, and then dropped a number of high explosive bombs.
First there was a loud explosion, a slight pause, then six more explosions in quick succession. The crashes were heard with shattering effect all over the town and district.
The population was stunned by the suddenness of the attack. Only for a short time, however. Soon the A.R.P. services were galvanised into action, and raced towards the scene of the attack.
Several bombs had fallen near a row of houses, one of which had received a direct hit.
This house was levelled to the ground. The owner, Mr John Cameron, grocer, was in his shop, 200 yards distance, at the time.
His wife and three children and a woman lodger were in the house. Mrs Cameron and the children were badly injured, but were quickly rescued from the wreckage. The lodger, Mrs Dyer, wife of an R.A.F. Sergeant, was discovered dead beneath the debris an hour and a half later.
Betty Cameron, aged 10 ½, and John Cameron, aged 6, succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Mrs Cameron and George Cameron, aged 14, were detained in hospital, their injuries being serious.
Husband Rescues Wife
The first to arrive on the scene was Mr Cameron himself, and, unaided, he immediately started rescuing the members of his family, all of whom were trapped in the debris.
“I was in my shop when the first bomb fell, Mr Cameron said,”and there was a number of customers present. I had a feeling other bombs would fall, and I told my customers to remain where they were. I ran towards my home, and I heard the second explosion. I had a premonition then that my own house had been struck. As I was running, machine-gun bullets were whizzing past me, and I don’t know yet how I was not hit.
“When I arrived at my home I saw the damage that had been done. There was no one in sight. I started shouting the names of my children, but got no response. I shouted again, and just then I saw my wife. She was pinned down by a large piece of masonry. I immediately tried to free her, but I failed in my first attempt, and then I succeeded-I don’t know how- in throwing the boulder clear. I laid my wife on her side. A moan then drew my attention to my son, John, and on getting him clear I rushed with him to a hospital not far distant.
“I returned to the scene, and still no one had arrived. I discovered my son, George, and got him clear, and at that moment three men appeared, and immediately rendered assistance. My daughter Betty was also found, and all were removed to hospital.”
Despite his terrible experience, Mr Cameron, having done all that was possible, bravely returned to his shop where all his customers had remained sheltering during the attack.
Eleven other persons sustained minor injuries and had to receive medical attention.

Remarkable Escapes
Many people had remarkable escapes in houses which were completely wrecked internally. All the houses in the same row as Mr Cameron’s were badly damaged.
The house next to Mr Cameron’s-that of Mr Alexander Miller- was also destroyed, although the front remains standing.
Fortunately there was no one in the house.Mr Miller was at work at the time, and his wife was on her way home when the explosion occurred.
Mrs Miller’s brother, Mr Alexander Sinclair, had called at the house, and was just about to enter the door when the bomb fell. He was flung to the ground, and must have been momentarily stunned, because he remembered nothing more until he found himself staggering away from the scene with facial injuries.
A hospital, which was within a hundred yards of the spot where one bomb landed, received little damage. Windows were blown in and plaster torn from the walls and ceilings with the blast.
Patients in the hospital were immediately evacuated to a safe place. “Their behaviour was admirable,” said the hospital matron. “They showed not the least sign of panic, and we were able to remove them very quickly”.
The hospital service, however, continued uninterrupted, the staff dealing with the casualties in the raid.

Bomb in Garden
One bomb fell in a house garden. The house which belongs to Mr Duncan A. Sinclair, was completely destroyed internally. Mr Sinclair was not at home, and in fact was travelling home by train when the raid occurred.
His brother, Mr Peter Sinclair, sculptor, was the only person in the house, and he escaped with slight injuries.
In its decent the bomb which landed in the garden knocked the chimney can off the house opposite, and tore a large hole in the masonry. One of the fins of the bomb was found outside the house.
Other houses in the same street were badly damaged in the interior.
Pieces of shrapnel flew over a wide area, one piece landing about 500 yards away. This was the nose-cap of a bomb which crashed through the roof of the shop of Lipton, Ltd., in one of the main streets in town.
This heavy piece of metal narrowly missed the shop manager, Mr James Sinclair. Although the full staff and a number of customers were there no one was hit. The electric light fused, and for a time there was confusion, everyone in the shop thinking that there had been a direct hit close by.
Another bomb fell on an open space which is surrounded by houses. The home of Col. J.J. Robertson was nearest, and most affected. Most of the windows were blown in, and the walls and ceilings were stripped of their plaster.
Col. Robertson, Mrs Roberston, and their daughter, Miss Margaret Robertson, were sitting taking a meal. Heavy window shutters protected them from glass splinters, but the shutters were torn and ripped by the blast.

Machine Gun Fire
Two people who were crossing a bridge saw the ‘planes very distinctly. The unusually loud noise of their engines attracted unsuspecting attention.
They said the machines were brightly lit inside and also carried lights on the wings. “The spluttering sounds of machine-gun fire made me think the engine of the third ‘plane was faulty,” said one, “but when I heard loud explosions to the north and saw bullets richochetting from the nearby roofs and the bridge parapets I knew a raid was on. It was hot while it lasted, but intervening buildings probably saved us before we retraced our steps.”
Persons caught in the street scattered for safety as they saw and heard the machine-gun fire. There were instances of men flinging themselves over children to protect them.
At one point a navyman was cycling along the road, and was forced to take shelter in a ditch.
Before entering the town the raiders fired upon houses in the country. Children had to be rushed indoors for safety.
The remarkable thing was that with all this machine-gunning no one was hit.
As the bombers passed overhead people on the streets took little notice at first, thinking that they were British machines.
In the picture-house queue two boys were commenting on the type of bombers, and had expressed one or more opinions when the bombs crashed, and they both cried-“Heinkels!”
People Evacuated
Owing to the damage to property and the danger from unexploded bombs a number of people had to be evacuated. In this work local authority officials and members of the W.V.S. rendered valuable assistance in securing accommodation and food for a large party.
Without any warning, the work of the A.R.P. services fire brigade, first-aid, etc, was rendered most difficult, but they carried out their duties in a manner that earned them universal praise. Special mention should be made of the doctors and nurses in the hospital, who carried on in a building which was within the area attack, and had suffered damage.
The fire brigade extinguished two outbreaks of fire which followed the explosions, and had to work within a few yards of an unexploded bomb.
The funeral of the three victims, which was private, took place on Wednesday.

[TRANSCRIPT TAKEN FROM THE JOHN O' GROAT JOURNAL NEWSPAPER 01.11.1940]