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‘I remember the day that War broke out, Sunday 11 September, 1939. I remember the announcement on radio — I was quite excited because I was a small boy of 9 and I thought fighting was the greatest thing in the world. I couldn’t understand why my Mum and Dad were depressed, but in retrospect it would be thinking of my two older brothers who became liable for call up later in the War.

The next memory would be October ’39 — the first air raid of the War which people thought was aimed at the Forth (Railway) Bridge, but it was in fact aimed at warships around Rosyth. One of the bombers was chased over Edinburgh and Portobello by two spitfires, which opened fire and the German bomber was brought down at North Berwick. They put the plane on show at the mound.

I and some friends were playing on the lower slopes of Arthur’s Seat and I remember thinking it was a great show. I remember it as if it was yesterday — I was disappointed, going back into Portobello to look for souvenirs — things like shell casings, which used to come showering out of the sky when planes shot at each other. There weren’t any this time as they’d all been picked up — kids! The three German airmen were killed and their funerals took place at Milton Road Cemetery. Their coffins were covered with German flags and hundreds of people lined the route. They were subsequently disinterred and buried in a German War Cemetery. The plane that was shot down was put on display at the Mound and resembled nothing as much as a pepper pot — this was to boost morale of the civilian population’.
(Collected by SBC Museums).

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