The day Sunderland's Roker Park was bombed: Survivor who lived next door tells how his home was destroyed in 1943

Fred Hicks was 15 when German planes flew low over Roker Park and dropped their 1,000 lb payload.

He lived less than 200 yards away in the Brandlings Street area and his home was destroyed in the 1943 attack.

‘I thought the planes were going to hit the chimneys’

Thankfully for Fred, he and his mam, dad, two brothers and two sisters were in a nearby shelter but the night-time raid was still terrifying.

Speaking as the 80th anniversary of that day approaches, he said: "The planes were so low, I thought they were going to hit the chimneys.”

Then came the moment that people feared. The people below could hear the plane’s bomb bay doors opening. The familiar sound which followed, of falling bombs, was sickening.

People had learned to recognise it. When they landed, it was even worse.

‘The concussion from the explosions pressed on your chest’

Fred added: “There was a concussion which was caused by the bombs exploding. It pressed down on your chest and you couldn’t breathe. It was terrifying’.

Fred’s family emerged from the raid the next morning to find their home flattened. They had to stay with relatives until they were rehomed.

Roker Park was hit that same night. A bomb left a crater on the pitch. Another hit a stand and a police officer was killed as he patrolled the grounds.

"There were bombs falling all around us,” said Fred who was born in Roker, went to Redby School and later went to the Technical College.

Others were not so lucky.

‘People were injured. Others lost their lives’

"There were people injured and people who lost their lives. We were in the air raid shelter which was just a few yards away.

"There was one family which refused to go in the shelter. The whole family was killed.”

Fred is a lifelong SAFC who grew up in the days of heroes such as Raich Carter and remembers getting into matches in the last 10 minutes when it was free to watch Sunderland.

Fred became a Merchant Navy engineer and travelled the world. He now lives in Yorkshire.

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