THE horror of war became a painful reality for Worcester people for a few fleeting but tragic minutes in the autumn of 1940.

And this year marks the 60th anniversary of that fateful day when German bombs fell on the Meco factory to mar what would otherwise have been an uneventful six years for wartime Worcester.

In broad daylight on October 3, 1940, a lone German aircraft appeared from a low ceiling of cloud and circled above the Cinderella Works and the Alley & MacLellan factory in Bromyard Road, but neither of these proved to be the raider's target as the Luftwaffe plane jettisoned two large bombs on the nearby Mining Engineering Company works- Meco.

Seven men were killed and 60 people injured, some seriously including canteen lady Doris Tindall and schoolgirl Margaret Wainwright, both of whom lost an eye.

Aviation historian and author Dilip Sarkar of Worcester explained in his book Angriff Westland that Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft had previously taken aerial photographs of Worcester, earmarking possible targets such as Norton Barracks, the Diglis petrol storage tanks, Government buildings in Whittington Road, Perdiswell Airfield, and Meco, which was contributing to the war effort in producing vital parts for barrage balloons.

Mr Sarkar says the bomb attack of October 3, 1940, was made by the crew of a lone German Junkers 88 which flew in over the eastern English coastline from an enemy airbase either in Holland, Belgium or France.

The attack was particularly audacious as it was carried out in awful weather, at very low level and in the middle of the day.

"It was a perfect example of a successful nuisance hit-and-run raid - part of the Luftwaffe's harassing attacks to hamper wartime production and to lower public morale."

It was around 12.15pm that the Junkers 88 descended from cloud and delivered its deadly load on Meco. One of the bombs fell at such an angle that it dropped into the main machine shop but carved its way out through the east exterior wall before exploding. It was the "blow back" effect that caused all the devastation, blasting a huge hole out of the east end of the works and demolishing the canteen and clocking-on area.

The seven Meco employees who died were A.F Williams, W Hulme, J.W Perry, W.G Ricketts, G.W Lee and T.C Santler.

Though this death toll was tragic enough, it could have been catastrophic had the bomb fallen just a few minutes later. Those killed or seriously injured were the few men clocking-out early to go on various duties. Shortly afterwards, almost the entire factory would have been queuing to clock-out for lunch.

The second bomb narrowly missed the Meco works, ricocheted off a concrete base and exploded near houses at Happy Land West, severely damaging several homes, though luckily none of the residents was badly hurt.

Meco's principal work at the time was for the Air Ministry, and the firm received a characteristic telegram from Lord Beaverbrook, then Minister for Aircraft Production: "Wire back full particulars deaths and injuries, maximum extent of damage and estimated earliest date of continuation of production."

Meco employees worked furiously over the weekend to clear up the debris and cover over the holed roof with tarpaulin so that full production could start again only three days later. True British grit!

One of several eye-witnesses of the Meco bombing was Terry Hulme. He was then 12-years-old and playing with school friends in hopfields on the city boundary.

He told me in 1994: "We heard aero engines, very low, and looked up to see an aircraft approaching at no more than 300 feet, It whizzed over us, popping off a few rounds of machine-gun bullets, so we ran like hell for home.

"The aircraft was actually so low that the crew were clearly visible in the perspex nose. On reaching home, I yelled to mother to take to the Anderson shelter at the bottom of our garden in the Broadway.

"We were halfway there when the bombs dropped on the Meco works, exploding and sending a sheet of yellow flame into the air. We were nearly blown over by the blast."

Tragically, Terry's father, William Hulme was one of the seven Meco employees killed in the blast.

Another eye-witness was Frederick Fawdry, who gave me this account in 1994: "I was projectionist at St John's Cinema from 1930, until 1941, and, that morning, had put up one of our posters in the Meco canteen, announcing forthcoming films. I had cycled down Bromyard Road to Henwick Halt when the German bomber appeared overheard, having just unloaded its bombs on Meco. It looked to be only 100ft or so off the ground, coming over the railway and St Clement's Church.

"I jumped off my bike and dived into the gutter in front of the church."