East Sussex village set to remember civilian casualties of war: woman killed by Doodlebug bomb as she played piano

Some 29 people died during World War Two in the Hailsham Rural District area and one victim was from Arlington.

Catherine Dalziel, 66, of Placketts House, was killed on July 7, 1944, when a V-1 flying bomb, or ‘Doodlebug’, destroyed her home while she was playing piano.

Shortly afterwards 15-year old Phil Wooller was sent into the house to look for casualties.

In his family memoir he said: “I was not far away when the doodlebug exploded at Placketts Corner, and arrived before the dust settled. My father, his brother, an army officer and his driver, were already there. The doodlebug had exploded in the top of a tall pine tree and had wrecked the house from above, but not scattered the debris. I managed to crawl under large sections of the roof which had settled on the furniture, in what was her sitting room. I managed to get to the piano, where I found Mrs Dalziel, who had obviously been playing the piano. She was almost deaf, so probably didn’t hear anything. Her body was almost black and blue, as if she was bruised all over from the blast.”

Lewes Bonfire 2024 in photos – tens of thousands at event

His daughter Wendy Holmes said: “It is extraordinary that it was my Dad who crawled in to find her. Dad died in 2019, and there has always been talk, among the older generation, of the Doodlebug that fell on the village that day in 1944, killing that poor lady who lived at Placketts House.”

She said: “Catherine was said to be a sweet woman, a good friend and neighbour, an accomplished musician and loved to play the piano. Now, thanks to the work of the Arlington Village Museum, and Dad’s memoirs, Catherine can be properly remembered by us all, another tragic, Civilian Casualty of War.”

People can see Catherine’s citation and certificate on the Commonwealth War Graves website at www.cwgc.org. In 2023, Arlington honoured Private Jesse Levett, its only son to die in the First World War, at an Armistice Day service. Their memorials will be next to each other in the Lady Chapel of St Pancras Church on Remembrance Sunday 2024.