大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War Site by Three Counties Action, on behalf of Doreen Fisher, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

I was aged ten when war was declared and lived in Seven Kings, Essex with my parents and sisters (16 陆 and 21). Most children and friends I know were later evacuated but I decided I did not want to leave and stayed put. My father removed the Anderson shelter provided as he considered it an eyesore and thought the war would be over in six months! During the Blitz my mother and I slept on a mattress placed in the cupboard under the stairs. Before the heavy raids a large area of our nearby park (South Park) was excavated to provide shelters. After one night there it was so unpleasant we were glad to stay at home. My grandfather鈥檚 house was completely destroyed so he came to live with us for the next six years. The worst raid (although there were so many to follow) was when the Docks were set ablaze. My father said, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e hitting the Docks鈥� and we looked out and saw everything was lit up by the fires. The bombs whistled down endlessly 鈥� it was very frightening. After little sleep everyone emerged next morning to sweep glass and cover broken windows. As the all clear had sounded I walked in the park from where the ack ack guns had blazed collecting shrapnel, some still hot. All over was charred papers, letters with City addresses 鈥� wind from the west had blown them several miles. Our elderly neighbour 鈥� a widow 鈥� had an incendiary bomb through her bedroom roof burning the pillows 鈥� luckily she was not at home then 鈥� and on her return said calmly 鈥� 鈥淚 would have had a headache.鈥� We shared the Anderson in her garden when the Doodlebugs arrived. Then came the rockets 鈥� no warning, no shelter.

We all realised how lucky we were to survive.

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