On the night of August 17th, 1940, German bombs severely damaged the church of Astwood. The roof caved in, the porch was destroyed, and a treasured maple tree in the churchyard was blown up. Possibly the airborne raider had been part of a Luftwaffe attack on the nearby R.A.F. aerodrome at Cranfield, but as one of the village residents recalled “It was just one of those things, when they dropped their bombs anywhere.” Fortunately there were no casualties, and in fact in one respect the damage was rather opportune since, in view of the bombing, compensation was granted to replace the rotting timber beams of the roof with those of concrete. However, the perils of air attack continued, and the village again suffered from enemy bombing on February 3rd, 1941. In the later years of the war several German prisoners of war were set to work on the farmland around Astwood. As a bomber pilot, one had flown on raids against targets such as Cambridge and Coventry, but his brother, who had emigrated to the United States before the war, was flying with the United States air force, against similar targets in Germany.