Elizabeth Hodgkinson Draper

Rank:Civilian
Died:24/12/1944Age:54
How Died:V.1. Flying Bomb
Incident Date:24/12/1944
Incident Address.31 Chapel Street
Died Address:31 Chapel Street
Grave Photo:No
Cemetery or Memorial:Bolton (Heaton) Cemetery
Town Memorial:Not Listed
Extra Information:
Born as Elizabeth ?????? on the 18th  December
1888.

Employed as a shop Assistant.

Married Edward Draper - 1911><1939       Not able
to find marriage record, so despite much research,
I'm unable to confirm her maiden name, which in
turn means I'm unable to list her census returns.

1939  National Registration - 31 Chapel Street,
Tottington.    Elizabeth Draper - Born on the 18th
December 1888 - Married - occ: Unpaid Domestic
Duties.   No trace of Edward.

See Bury Times 30/12/1994 and the Bolton Evening
News December 27th 1944.

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 Burwell 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 - Further along the row, at
number 31, shop assistant Elizabeth Hodgkinson
Draper, aged 54, was killed and next door to her,
there was more tragedy.

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 31 Chapel Street. Wife of Edward Draper.
Died at 31 Chapel Street.

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.


               
District:
Tottington (Bury MBC)
Memorials found on:
Tottington V.I.
C.W.G.C.
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