On the telly, too

On the fortieth anniversary in 1982, I wrote and presented an ITV documentary on the tragedy, starting in Milk Street (top, above) complete with the dramatic shrapnel scars. This brought further unpublished information to light. In a new edition, the book included fresh details on the RAF’s attempts to prevent the raid and hunt down the bombers. Much of it was provided by retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis ‘Splinters’ Smallwood, who commanded a squadron of night fighters at Charmy Down, where the skeletal remains of the old base can still be found in fields off the A46. He made an excellent interviewee in the programme as did Ron Shearn, who was filmed in his favourite Bath pub (second picture, above).

'Splinters' Smallwood in 1942 and 40 years later, filming in the restored Assembly Rooms.