Mitching for shrapnel

When I arrived for my stint at the local heritage centre (I'm so community spirited these days...) I was told that a donation had just arrived. It was this box containing pieces of shrapnel from the town's sole brush with wartime aerial bombardment when on September 23rd 1941 a land mine was dropped by parachute from a German plane. Three marines billeted here were killed and considerable structural damage was done to shops and houses in the town - a dentist's surgery a couple of miles away had its window blown in. (Some locals took advantage of the circumstance to claim compensation for pre-existing damage...)

The donation came from my old friend, local historian Roy whose activities have been sadly curtailed since being grounded through ill health; he cannot drive his car any more. He relied on it to get around, taking an oxygen cylinder with him. As a result I rarely see him now.

In the accompanying article he wrote about the land mine, Roy explains he "mitched" off school in order to go and look for debris left after the explosion. What he found he has kept  for 75 years.

The enclosed copy of the contemporary local newspaper report of the event includes some items that act as a peephole into the wartime life of the town. 

1.Jam making. Persons interested are asked to note that the jam making centre will be open from Tuesday to Friday. [Who knew?]
2. 'Put your coupons on the Right goods and save yourself from worry' [advert for local shop].
3. 'School holidays. The locals schools closed for the second period of the staggered summer holidays on Friday to enable the seniors to assist with the corn harvest.' [Again, I didn't know this was the case but with so many men away fighting extra hands would be needed on the farms.]
4.'Mr Hubert Thomas is at present home on leave from the Merchant Navy. He is one of three sons serving with the Forces. A brother is serving out East having been successfully evacuated from Crete, and the youngest is serving with the RAF.' [Imagine the three-fold anxiety their parents must have experienced. I wonder if all three survived. There were still 4 more years of war to go.]