“FIVE houses were demolished and others damaged, but there were few casualties when a lone raider dropped bombs on a town in the south,” reported the Advertiser, following a raid on Swindon during the evening of Thursday, December 19.

Among those caught in the bombing was 57-year-old Jane Hobbs, of 167 Beatrice Street who sustained serious injuries and was taken to Victoria Hospital .

She died there the following day.

Several people were trapped in their house when the staircase under which they had sheltered collapsed.

But one little boy was able to rely on his brother for help when their home was damaged during the raid.

The boys had just gone to bed when the bombs fell on Beatrice and Ipswich Streets, causing their bedroom to cave in around them.

Eleven-year-old Roy Miller led his nine-year-old brother Leo to safety down the wrecked staircase where the boys found the rest of their family trapped in the dining room.

“Don’t cry mammy, I’ve got him all right,” Roy called to his mother.

“He is a proper little hero, and we are proud of him,” Mrs Miller told the Advertiser.