The Sunderland man who was bombed out of his home, then won a wardrobe in a raffle
A new twist to the dramatic story of a Sunderland man - who walked away from an explosion - has been revealed by a relative.
Fred Blackburn was getting dressed in Corporation Road when the house he was in was levelled by a German air raid in October 1942.
He was trapped in a doorway and his shoulder was injured but somehow, he got himself free from the rubble.
His home was destroyed - weeks before he won a wardrobe
The bare-footed bomb survivor was wearing only a shirt and trousers when the house was destroyed but he lived to tell the tale.
Soon, he was at the centre of more drama weeks later. He entered a competition which was held in Sunderland for the war effort.
The competition raised £40 and the money was used to buy either two bombs or one torpedo to be used against the Nazis.
Mother and baby had a miracle escape
Fred won it and got the prize of a gentleman’s wardrobe, donated by a Low Row business boss Maurice Winberg, weeks after Fred’s home had been wrecked.
But he wasn’t the only person to escape with their lives from the Corporation Road blast.
The mother and four-month-old child of Thomas Allison had been upstairs in the same building. For some reason, they came downstairs and sat in the kitchen just seconds before the bomb hit.
Thomas himself had escaped as he had gone to work.
In the house when it collapsed
All of the detail has been shared with the Sunderland Echo by Morgan Davies.
She told us: “My great-great uncle Fred was 19 at the time and was actually in the kitchen when the house came down.
“My great-great grandfather Fred was walking along the road when he heard the bomb come down on Corporation Road. My great-great grandmother Hannah was in the shelter with my great grandmother Hannah. All survived.”
Morgan was told some of the story by her grandmother before she passed away.
‘I couldn’t get along the street for flames’
“I took it upon myself to do some more research about the story.”
She learned that the bomb, which came down on the centre of Corporation Road, was 500kgs of high explosives. It left a crater which was 36ft wide.
It demolished 20 houses and 300 others were damaged. Seven people died and 78 were injured.
Flash the dog would not leave the wreckage
Fred’s dad - also called Fred - was interviewed in 1942 for the Sunderland Echo’s report on the bomb blast. He had been on his way home when he heard the blast.
He said at the time: “I could not get along the front street for flames. I found the house all smashed in, but my wife and daughter were in the shelter unhurt. My son, Fred, was trapped in a doorway, but managed to free himself.”
That Echo report colourfully described the effect that the blast had on pet animals.
One, a dog called Flash, refused to leave the scene of its owner’s demolished home and lay on a pillow in the wreckage.
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A canary sang in its cage at another demolished house and two rabbits were still perched on the top of their cage, despite the chaos around them.
We are indebted to Morgan for sharing her family’s story.
If your relatives played a part in a historic event on Wearside, tell us more by emailing [email protected]