In May of 1944, a 100-pound practice bomb dropped from a military training flight landed in the lot behind the Kempkes home on North Main Street in Belchertown. Filled with sand and dropped from more than 2,000 feet, the bomb missed the house by roughly 300 feet. Based on a report from the Belchertown Sentinel, this episode tells the story of a little-known moment when World War II quite literally reached a Belchertown backyard.

If you or your family lived on North Main Street in the 1940s, or if the Kempkes name is familiar to you, we’d like to hear from you. Local history often lives in personal stories long after the headlines fade. Visit Belchertown 360 or reach out to share memories, documents, or photos connected to this incident.

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