Ruth Barbara Potter Willis

Certified dead at the scene, cause of death "War Operations ". At 22:25 six high explosive bombs fell in Laxton along with two large caliber oil incendiary bombs and numerous one kilogram incendiaries. Ruth Willis was on duty as a member of the Air Raid Precautions Service First Aid Party in Laxton. Her ambulance had just pulled up after driving from a meeting at Southwell. She was by her front door at The Old School House in the village when the first bomb fell into her front garden. The shrapnel killed Ruth, and seriously injured two other people from the first aid party who were standing near the ambulance. Damage was caused to several other houses, farm buildings and the village school. Mrs Dickenson had her hand injured by shrapnel whilst she was protecting her son's head; she was treated by the local first aid party and conveyed with others to Newark Hospital. Sheffield and Rotherham steel works was the Luftwaffe target in the Midlands area, but bombs fell in an arc between Sheffield, Chesterfield, Long Eaton and the entry/exit point near Skegness. 4 killed 73 injured around Sheaf Street, Sheffield. 2 killed 12 injured in Long Eaton and 33 injured in Rotherham. Possibility being the Knickebein navigation and targeting beams had been ' captured ' and were being redirected by jamming transmittions ' Aspirin' to less densely populated areas. Ruth was the first member of the civilian services in Nottinghamshire to be killed by direct enemy action.