OAP from Crossways charts bombs dropped by Luftwaffe (From Bournemouth Echo)

OAP from Crossways charts bombs dropped by Luftwaffe

PENSIONER John Comben is plotting the location of every bomb which fell on Dorset in the war.

John Comben of Crossways

He aims to chart each explosive dropped by the Luftwaffe between 1939 and 1945.

Mr Comben, aged 84, of Oaklands Park, Crossways, wants to hear from witnesses and anyone who knows where devices landed during the Second World War. He said: “I think it is important that the bombs are recorded.

“I want to know about all the bombs which landed, exploded and left a crater.

“We need to do this now before the older generations which witnessed it go off to the pearly gates.”

Mr Comben added: “Many people think that Dorset was a safe place during the war.

“They think that Dorset escaped the bombs because evacuees were sent here.

“But Dorset had its fair share of bombs.

“Many were never recorded or photographed.

“A bomb would drop in a field and a farmer would just fill the crater in and plough over it.”

Widower Mr Comben, who has one son, aims to plot the location of the bombs on an Ordnance Survey map. He located about 20 so far.

He said: “I have been to the Royal British Legion and talked to people.

“But the only way of recording them is if people contact me.

“There are still people living who would have witnessed the bombs falling.”

Mr Comben was born in Bovington and later moved to Holton Heath where his father worked in the cordite factory for shells.

He was 13 at the outbreak of war and remembers an unexploded bomb landing outside his home a year later.

Mr Comben, who has worked as a coppersmith, panel beater, welder and car sprayer, said: “I have a good clear memory of the war and the bombings.

“You never had the time to think so it wasn’t frightening as such.”

Anyone who can help is urged to contact Mr Comben by writing to 35 Oaklands Park, Crossways, DT2 8JQ.