Oxford suffered a second mystery explosion nine days after one that badly damaged the basement of a house in Wellington Square, writes Max Robinson.

As we recalled (Memory Lane, April 14), a small bomb exploded at the bottom of the steps of No 35 in February, 1948, peppering the area with fragments of metal and blowing out all the basement and first floor windows.

In the second explosion, a roughly, but soundly constructed, hut on the Southfield golf course in East Oxford was wrecked.

The following morning, there was another riddle - when groundsmen arrived to sweep the greens, they found that the flagpoles used to mark each hole had been pushed into the ground, leaving just the flags showing.

The Oxford Mail reported: "It is believed that a bomb caused the golf course explosion.

"Police officers found jagged fragments of metal, believed to be the outer casing of a bomb, scattered up to 200 yards from the hut.

"Two other larger fragments were also found. A large hole was blown in one side of the hut and a sheet of corrugated metal ripped off. Other sections of the hut were peppered with small holes and some of the thick wooden supports were snapped off.

"It is thought that the bomb lost a deal of its effectiveness owing to the open side of the shed. Pieces of rubber-covered cable and other insulated covering for wire were also found near the hut."

Householders on the nearby Fairview estate heard the explosion, but no windows were broken and no-one was injured.

One woman, who lived about 300 yards away, said she had just put her young boy to bed when the whole house shook.

She told the Mail: "My husband told me the explosion was preceded by a brilliant flash."

Other residents told similar stories, of how windows were shaken and children suddenly awakened, but no-one knew where the explosion had occurred.

Several people said an aircraft was passing overhead at the time, from which they thought a small bomb might have been accidentally dropped.

Soldiers in their billet at Cowley Barracks, about 400 yards from the hut, heard the explosion, which also shook buildings at the depot.

They also thought a bomb had been dropped from an aircraft.

The groundsmen who found the flagpoles pushed down, also reported that someone had walked over the greens, dragging the pointed end of the flagpole and making a series of small furrows.

The theory that a bomb had been dropped from an aircraft was later discounted.

* Who was responsible for the explosions? All will be revealed soon.

5:26pm Monday 21st April 2008

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