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My grandfather owned a farm in Frittenden during the war, and before we moved there to get away from the bombs falling in Ashford, he had an interesting experience.

One morning he was walking across one of his fields and he came across a strange bundle of material and nets, embedded in the field. He was suspicious and called the authorities, who later revealed that it was in fact a sea mine, dropped by a German plane way off course in the middle of Kent! Luckily it hadn’t exploded, otherwise the farm would have probably taken quite a bit of damage. The bomb disposal people were called and deactivated the device, but my grandfather was allowed to keep all the material, the nets and ropes and parachute. With all the rationing of such things it was quite a find, and my aunt who was a dressmaker was able to make blouses out of the parachute material!

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by James Barton from Westree Learning Centre and has been added to the website on behalf of John Sweetman with his/her permission and they fully understand the site’s terms and conditions.

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