REVEALED: WWII drama that led to deep hole in drain

 
Why's there a deep hole in the drain. Now there's a story, yew got me going now. My ole Dad told me all about that years ago see, cuz he was one of the old boys what dug that bit of the channel. There was this Lancaster bomber in the war there was what caused it. Now that got all hushed up at the time, that did, so best you don't you go round tellin' everyone mind.

I promise I'll keep mum. It started out, innocently enough, when I wondered why there was a deep hole in a drain, together with semi-circular bulges in the floodbanks on either side. 

I'll let my source resume the story:

"Anyways they bin' off to Germany, these ole chaps on their Lancaster like, bombing Fritz somewhere or other back in 1944 or thereabouts they wuz like they did in them days.

"But when they wuz comin' back in to land at Downham Market they found they still had one bomb left on board, they did. Five-hunnerd pounder. Big ole bomb what h'ent dropped right, or summat.

"Now they wuz runnin' out of fuel, they wuz. So they wuz circlin' round an' round, with this 500lbs bomb still on board, they must'a bin goin' cor blast that's a rum ole dew, what we gunna dew now, that'll go off if we try an' land.

"So one of them ole boys on the plane, he say to the all other fellas on the h'innercom or whatever they had like, cor blast gimme that axe an' I'll sort this out. He say bomb doors open skipper, or summat like that, over the h'innercom thing, like what they had.

"An then, an then he gew back in the bomb bay an' he give it a right ole ding with this axe like what they used ter 'ave on planes in them days and that ole bomb dropped just as they was on their final approach ter what use ter be the runway.

"Ph'wee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ker-frickin' boom, that went. They musta' heard it in King's Lynn. Nearly blew Denver Mill up, that did. Anyways, that's why there's a deep hole in that bit of drain see. Cuz when they come along after the war they just dug an' took the ole channel right through it, they did.

"My Ole Man tole me that. But that's still classified. So don' go puttin' that on the h'innernet..."

Of course not, I say. Your secret's safe with me.