‘Thank you Allan’, say Newbury schoolchildren after 1943 wartime bombing talk

Newbury pupils recently received a special visit to round off their Second World War education.

About a month ago, Newbury resident, Allan Mercado, spoke to pupils at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School about the impact of the war on Newbury as he remembers it.

“I got a big kick out of it”, said Mr Mercado, aged 91. “It was satisfying to know they know all about it.”

But later one afternoon, a teacher arrived at his door and presented Mr Mercado with a box of shortbread and around 40 personalised ‘thank you’ cards.

Mr Mercado enlightened the 10-11-year-olds about his memories of wartime life and his experience as a nine-year-old boy when Newbury suffered its darkest day.

On February 10, 1943, a lone German Dornier bomber dropped four 500kg high explosives and wreaked havoc on the streets of Newbury, machine guns ablaze.

As the all clear sounded, 15 people lay dead with more than 41 injured, many seriously.

Mr Mercado and his brother hid behind the sofa of their Westgate Road home after the alarm sounded.

His brother and sister knew many of the deceased.

Mr Mercado illustrated his talk with a scrapbook containing NWN press cuttings.

He said: “I told them what I had seen the next day, which was wreckage everywhere.

“Whilst I was speaking, they were able to see the devastation that was caused to a quiet English market town.

“In 1943, the blitz was gone and we thought Newbury had missed the war.

“The perhaps incredible thing was the gasps when I mentioned the bombs had struck Newbury on a quiet Wednesday afternoon and destroyed the school after 400 children had left.

“A half-hour difference and there would have been a bigger disaster.”

Mr Mercado said he was impressed by the pupils’ responses after his talk.

“Usually at these things, there’s a degree of silence and reluctance to speak up,” he added.

“But not at this school; about 20 hands went up.

“I wasn’t aware of how deeply the children of today are informed about the horrors.

“Maybe in time, they’ll pass it on.”