On the 22nd November 1940 a 100kg bomb was dropped on Halifax. It landed outside 77 Hanson Lane in Pellon. 11 people were killed and the force of the blast destroyed a row of three shops and the West Hill Hotel next door. 37 houses had to be demolished.
The landlord Mr Clem Garforth was serving in the bar when the bomb hit. He managed to escape, with glass cuts to his face and arms but three of his customers were killed, including one man who was described in the local newspaper as having his head severed from his body. The article also noted that despite the front of the hotel being blown away, a table of beer glasses remained untouched.
Shop keeper Ivy Burrows was serving a customer when the bomb hit. They were both killed. Another casualty was 16 year old Eric Pearson who was killed whilst waiting for a bus.
The names of those who died are:
Ivy Burrows, Charles Cockroft, Frank Keating, William Marston, Harry Moore, Eric Pearson, Nora Varney, James Ward, Arthur Watson and Lucy Ann Wild.
