VE Day at 80: Bombs, Black Cats and the Fog of War
My Grandpa was too old to fight in World War Two. He was a schoolteacher, and served as an Air Raid Warden during the war.
The Air Raid Warden Service was set up in 1937. Wardens were responsible for reporting bomb incidents, reassuring the public, and providing Air Raid Precautions (ARP) advice. They also tackled small fires, administered first aid, and investigated reports of unexploded bombs. Most wardens were part-time volunteers, juggling ARP duties with full-time jobs.
ARP was part of the wider Civil Defence Service — a civilian volunteer organisation that included firemen (initially the Auxiliary Fire Service, later the National Fire Service), fire watchers (later renamed the Fire Guard), rescue units, stretcher parties, and first aid teams. Over 1.9 million people served in the Civil Defence Service. Nearly 2,400 were killed by enemy action.
In Durham, ARP headquarters was on Saddler Street. There, wardens received reports of enemy aircraft from spotters along the East Durham coast.
The Night Rudolf Hess Flew Over
On the evening of May 10, 1941, spotters identified a lone Messerschmitt Bf 110E-1/N flying north.
The sighting was relayed to ARP, who passed it on to the anti-aircraft battery at the mouth of the River Wear — the famous Black Cat battery, named after the local football club’s nickname.
The gunners had the Messerschmitt in their sights when orders came from the War Office: stand down. The battery obeyed, puzzled, as the aircraft continued north toward Scotland.
On board was Rudolf Hess — high-ranking Nazi and would-be peacemaker. Hess believed the Duke of Hamilton might broker peace talks directly with the King, bypassing Churchill. Instead, he was arrested and imprisoned for the rest of his life, dying by suicide in Spandau prison in 1987.
The official British line is that Military Intelligence had no involvement in Hess’s defection. They claim there were no secret negotiations and no prior knowledge.
To this day, they stick to that story.
But someone rang the Black Cat battery and told them to stand down.
Someone in the War Office knew who was in that plane — and told the guns not to fire.
Was there an operation in place to capture Hess? Probably. Was it run by Ian Fleming — the man who would later create James Bond? That’s the story. And if so, it was likely Fleming himself who made the call that night to spare the pilot.
Durham and the Baedeker Raids
Durham was well protected by ARP throughout the war, but it wasn’t entirely off the Luftwaffe’s radar.
The city was targeted as part of the Baedeker Raids — named after the Baedeker travel guides, the Nazis supposedly used to select British targets of cultural and historic importance. These raids were launched in retaliation for British bombing of German cities, with the aim of crushing morale by destroying national heritage.
The Baedeker campaign began with Exeter on April 23, 1942, and ended with an attack on Norwich on June 27. York, Bath, and Canterbury were also hit.
In the early hours of May 1, 1942, 38 German bombers struck the region — hitting industrial targets in Sunderland, South Shields and Jarrow, and even turning their attention to Durham.
Bombs fell near Carrville, seemingly aimed at the railway viaduct, and two landed near Finchale Priory. At 2:33am, ARP received reports of incoming bombers heading toward the city and its cathedral.
But then something odd happened.
As the bombers approached, a dense ground mist suddenly enveloped the city. The moon was still visible above — the mist covered just a 2.5-mile radius around Durham’s centre. At 4:02am, the all-clear was sounded. Just as suddenly, the fog lifted.
Durham Cathedral, shrine of St Cuthbert — one of medieval Europe’s most revered saints — was untouched. One of Cuthbert’s alleged miracles was the power to control the weather.
Coincidence? Divine intervention? Who knows.
But not a single German bomb ever struck Durham Cathedral during the war.
Inside the cathedral, a stained-glass window now commemorates the RAF crews who defended Durham — and the rest of the country — from the skies.
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80 years since VE Day — but some wartime secrets still linger…
Nazi defector Rudolf Hess, Durham’s Black Cat battery, and a fog that saved a cathedral.🇬🇧 History, myth, and mystery:
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