Born Bertha Hayhurst on the 24th December 1880,
the birth being registered during the March
quarter 1881 in the Bury R.D. - ref: 8c/551, the
daughter of Robert & Elizabeth Hayhurst (nee      
 Baptised at St. Paul's P.C., Ramsbottom on the
27th February 1881.   Her father was a Joiner and
he and his wife - Elizabeth, resided at 24 Union
Street.

1881 Census - 23 Union Street, Tottington Lower
End, Bury, Lancashire.    FAMILY LISTED AS HURST
(not Hayhurst).   Daughter aged: 3 - born:
Ramsbottom.    Head of household - Robert Hurst -
Married - aged: 27 - occ: Joiner - born:
Ramsbottom.   Also - Elizabeth Hurst - Wife -
aged: 27 - born: Ramsbottom.   Plus 1 elder
brother and a paternal uncle.

1891 Census - 19 Victoria Street, Tottington.  
FAMILY LISTED AS HURST (not Hayhurst).   Daughter
- aged: 10 - born: Ramsbottom.   Her mother -
Elizabeth Hurst - Married - aged: 36 - occ: Cotton
Weaver- born: Ramsbottom.  Also listed was her
elder brother.   They were boarders at the home of
James & Ann Ormerod. 

1901 Census - 19 Victoria Street, Tottington.  
FAMILY LISTED AS HURST (not Hayhurst).   Daughter
- aged: 20 - occ: Cotton Weaver - born:
Ramsbottom.   Her mother - Elizabeth Hurst -
Married - aged: 47 - occ: Cotton Weaver- born:
Ramsbottom.  Also listed was her elder brother.  
They were boarders at the home of Robert
Tattershall, but James & Ann Ormerod were still
residing there.

Married Dewhurst Greenhalgh during the March
quarter 1902 in the Bury R.D. - ref: 8c/928.

1911 Census - 34 Old Doctors, Tottingtington,
Lancashire.    Wife - aged: 30 - occ: Cotton
Weaver - born: Tottington.   Head of household -
Dewhurst Greenhalgh - Married - aged: 36 - occ:
Cotton Cloth Stamper at Cotton Cloth Bleach Works
- born: Tottington.   Plus their son - Walter
Greenhalgh - aged: 4.   Also 1 boarder (Dewhurst's
elder sister - Ann Greenhalgh, who was also killed
in this incident) and 3 visitors.

1939 National Registration - 21 Chapel Street,
Ramsbottom, Tottington, Lancashire.   Dewhurst
Greenhalgh - Born on the 10th July 1875 - Married
- occ: Maker up Stamper at Textile Bleachers.   
Bertha Greenhalgh - Born on the 25th December 1880
- Married - occ: Health Visitor with Bury 
Corporation.   Ann Greenhalgh - Born on the 4th
August 1869 - Single - occ: Retired Cotton Weaver
- (Ann - Dewhurst's elder sister was also killed
in this incident).

Bertha was badly injured in this incident and died
in Bury Hospital on the 20th  February 1945.

Chapel Street has St Ann's church on one side, and
had a row of terraced houses on the other, until a
V1 bomb landed there on Christmas Eve, 1944. One
of 45 V1 rockets launched from a modified HE-111
Heinkel bomber, I/KG53 squadron, fell short of its
Manchester target and landed on these terraced
houses. The first of the 15 that fell short landed
on Chorley at 05:30, the Tottington one hit at
05:50, killing 6 people. One can only hope they
died quickly, and in their beds with no knowledge
of the event. The highest death toll of these 15
bombs was on Abbey Hills Road, in Oldham, where 27
people died with a further 49 injured. In
Tottington, the Whitehead family of Stormer Hill
paid for the Remembrance Gardens to remember the 6
who died. A plaque at the rear of the garden
carries the names of those who lost their lives.
They are :-
1.Mr Nicholas Conway, a 50 year-old dye-plant
worker and his wife Mary Ann, who was 48. They
both died in their home at 19 Chapel Street. 
2.Miss Annie Greenalgh age 75 died at home at 21
Chapel Street. 
3.Elizabeth Hodgkinson Draper, age about 55 died
at home at 31 Chapel Street. 
4.Mr James Dyson age 52 and his wife Teresa were
visiting Teresa's sister, M Rooney, a nurse, for
Christmas. They were from Bulwell in Nottingham.
They died at 33 Chapel Street. 

People injured;
Miss Mary Conway - 19 Chapel Street.
Mrs Bertha Greenalgh - 21 Chapel Street.  (died
February 20th 1945)
Mr Dewhurst Greenhalgh - 21 Chapel Street.
Mrs Alice Midgley - 39 Chapel Street.
Miss Ethel Riley - 15 Chapel Street.
Mrs Mary E. Hodges - Printer's Arms P.H.
Mr Herbert Young
Miss Norah Hamer - 33 Chapel Street.
Miss Ellen Barnes 

Bury Times 31/12/2013 - Their next-door neighbour
Annie Greenhalgh, aged 75, was killed, and though
her sister [sister-in-Law actually], Bertha
Greenhalgh, aged 64 survived, she died the
following February at Bury Infirmary. Her husband,
Dewhurst Greenhalgh, was also injured at that
house. 

In Tottington, 14 injured people were put on to
stretchers at The Printers' Arms near the bomb
site and then taken to the infirmary, including
were Miss Conway, Ethel Riley, Herbert Young and
Ellen Barnes. 

Numbers 21 and 23 Chapel Street were destroyed,
while two neighbouring properties and a shop were
severely damaged. A total of 27 houses suffered
serious structural damage and eight of those had
to be demolished. 
St Anne's Church nearby had all its windows blown
out, save for one behind the altar and clothes,
bedding and furnishings were scattered into trees.
Showing true resilience, the congregation turned
out for a Christmas Day service, despite the
devastating damage of the previous day. 

CWGC - of 21 Chapel Street, Tottington. Wife of
Dewhurst Greenhalgh. Injured 24 December 1944, at
21 Chapel Street; died at Bury Infirmary.

The 2nd September 1949 edition of the Manchester
Evening News reported that the houses damaged by
the V1 bomb are to be demolished.  The owner of
the properties - Mr. George Ormerod, fought a
claim with the War Damages Appeals Panel to
rebuild the houses, but the local council hoped to
turn the site into a Garden of Remembrance.

There were four banks of houses, including the
Printer's Arms P.H. along the western side of
Chapel Street.   There is now only one bank which
is currently a restaurant, that has a different
shaped footprint to the old plans of the street,
so was probably rebuilt????.   Then came the
Printer's Arms P.H., with a long row of cottages
attached.   The third bank was situated directly
opposite the Church and the fourth sited between
the Church and the Vicarage.   The dwellings were
odd numbered from Turton Road, but are not easily
reconciled with the early map of that Street and
the 1939 National Registration records.    That
census records the public house, next is No.5,
then No.9.   After that comes Nos.15, 17, 19, 21
and 23.    There is then a gap in the numbers that
start again at No.29 and go through without a
break to No.43.   The evens side is almost
identical to that today, again starting from the
Turton Road junction - Nos.1 - 4 Churchgate, the
Village School which was also destroyed, the
Church and the Vicarage.