V1 Down in North Wales

[Atcham Tower]

In the early hours of Christmas Eve 1944, about 50 V1s were air launched by He 111s over the North Sea east of Hull. The target was Manchester but several strayed miles off course. One appears to have landed without exploding in a Flintshire wood. This is about 10 miles further west than another which landed at Kelsall, Cheshire. My informant was an aircraft-mad schoolboy at the time and he remembers he and his family hearing the distinctive sound of a doodlebug. It was familiar from the cinema newsreels of the time. The next morning a lane to a local wood was blocked and guarded by the military while they removed the wreckage. I investigated the presumed area today but, not surprisingly, found no evidence. It will take a metal detector to find anything. Investigations continue. There seems to be no official record of this incident but perhaps someone can add to the story?