This weekend marks the 80th anniversary of a World War II Luftwaffe bombing raid on Witney where two bombs impacted in the Church Green and Eagle Brewery areas in the south of the town overnight on 21st-22nd November 1940. The bombs were designed to cause a large amount of property damage and in this they certainly succeeded.

The buildings close by to the first explosion on Church Green, numerous homes and the grammar school would certainly have suffered blast damage. Notable buildings such as the church and police station, along with the council offices, had windows blown out. The almshouses at 28-38 Church Green also suffered damage. There is shrapnel damage to the white railings close to the dip in Church Green itself that identify the impact site of the first bomb.

Thankfully, the only injuries were minor ones with no major casualties at all.

Earlier bombing raids had also taken place in surrounding villages such as Stanton Harcourt, Brize Norton and Aston so it is unsurprising that Witney also received this unwanted attention.