THE grandson of a bomb disposal specialist who was the only survivor of a bomb blast near Hook in 1940 has paid respects to the men who lost their lives 83 years ago.

John Asher travelled to Hook train station with his sons Harry, 15, and James, 11, to commemorate the anniversary of the explosion on the Hook railway line on August 18, 1940.

John's grandfather, Lance Corporal Harry Wright, was a bomb disposal specialist who attended the site with seven other members of the 47 and 48 section of the 6th Bomb Disposal Company Royal Engineers.

As the Blitz began, 25 Bomb Disposal Companies were created between August 1940 and January 1941. Each company had 10 sections, each section having a bomb disposal officer and 14 other ranks to assist. 

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Bomb disposal in this capacity was new at the time, with unexploded bombs being re-engineered by Nazi Germany to include munitions fitted with anti-handling devices. Bomb fuzes incorporating anti-handling devices were specifically designed to kill bomb disposal personnel. 

Basingstoke Gazette:

The bomb had gone through the Hook Railway line, with Harry and other members of 47 and 48 sections attending the scene. Once the bomb was located, Harry, being the smallest of the group, began digging to locate the explosive, eventually finding the bomb before being called out of the hole after 'doing his job' and allowing other members to defuse the bomb.

Harry began walking back to Hook train station, to get a cup of tea for himself and the other members of the unit as the bomb was being deactivated. Unfortunately, as Harry walked away, the bomb was triggered and exploded, 'literally blowing the clothes off the bomb disposal officer's body' and killing the other six men.

The six men who died in the explosion were driver Fred Gavid, 22, and sappers Arthur Hill, 20, Ralph Moxon, 21, Douglas Vince, 23, Fred Warner, 23, and Arthur White. They died on the railway bridge in Crown Lane, Nately Scures.

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John and his sons paid their respects to Harry and the men who lost their lives 83 years ago on August 18, by visiting both plaque sites, one at Hook train station and one near where the explosion happened on Crown Lane. 

John and his sons bought a cup of tea and left it at the station 'for the lads who never got to have that brew'.

John, 49, said: "The people who sadly died on the railway all those years ago were all so young when they passed that I expect they would not have many living relatives now, so I feel it's our responsibility to honour them and their sacrifice. 

"These lads didn't get a chance like my grandad Harry, who lived to 96, so we wanted to come here on the anniversary and pay our respects to the sacrifice these young men made. We should be thankful for the opportunity to live, and with that life live well and do good things.

"It's one tiny story amongst millions of experiences many went through during the First and Second World Wars, but one that is so important to us and deserves to be remembered, honoured, and never forgotten."