Image ID: 09401

Ransome and Marles Ball and Roller Bearing Factory, Bomb Damage to the Grindery Shop, 1941

Courtesy of NSK Europe, Ltd.

Northern Road
Newark on Trent
England

In his book Newark in the Second World War (Nottinghamshire County Council, 1995), Robert Mallory records the events surrounding the bombing of the Ransome and Marles bearing factory at Newark-on-Trent. On Friday 7th March 1941 the most well known of all the raids on [Newark] took place when Ransome and Marles factory was bombed. The type of work carried out at the factory made it an obvious target for the Germans. The raid commenced at about 1.40pm. Many workers were returning from their lunch break when the alert sounded at 1.35pm. A few minutes later a single Heinkel III bomber - flying so low that those on the ground could see its markings - approached from the south, following the railway line. As it neared Ransome and Marles it was fired on from several different points but still managed to drop four high explosive bombs. Two of these landed in the works, one on the road at the side of the factory and the other on an air raid shelter adjacent to Stanley Street. The plane also machine-gunned the site before circling, passing over the factory again and dropping another bomb. Fortunately this one did not explode. According to German reports the aircraft flew over for a third time in order to take photographs. The Raiders Passed siren was sounded and rescue parties went immediately into action. Various ambulances transported casualties to hospital and the Home Guard helped to close the roads around the works. The First Aid posts and the Womens Voluntary Service canteen were also kept busy. At 2.24pm the alert sounded again. Another enemy aircraft approached and dropped five more bombs but only one exploded. This was near the road and caused more damage and casualties, many of those hurt being rescue workers. Raiders Passed was sounded again at 2.51pm. As a result of the raid 30 men and 10 women were killed. One young woman was never found and presumed dead. Amongst those killed, were a young woman who had planned to get married the following weekend and a man who had recently been discharged from the army. Sixty-five people were admitted to Newark Hospital and 100 more were treated at the works own underground hospital. The official German communiqu_ of the raid stated that A daring low level attack took place on an armament factory at Newark causing heavy damage in the workshops. The bombers were under the command of Lietenant Knaut and Lieutenant Randolf. Local papers were severely restricted in what they could report. The day after the raid the Newark Herald reported that A single German plane came out of the low-lying clouds yesterday and dropped a number of bombs on an East Midlands town. An hour later the same or another raider dropped more bombs in the same locality. There were a number of casualties, some being fatal. The official report from which much of this information comes was not made public until the end of the war. The day became known locally as Black Friday. After the raid the two paired Lewis guns which were mounted in sand-bagged positions on Clay Lane Bridge were replaced by a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun mounted on a proper gun platform. Fortunately the factory was not attacked again.

Date: 1940

Organisation Reference: NCCE003370

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