大象传媒

It was the 16th or 18th June 1944. We were in Wimbledon. I was twelve, it was ten days after D-Day and I was in the end of my last year at school. V1s; we hadn't heard about them before. I was finishing breakfast, getting ready for school.

The next memory was being carried in someone's arms across to someone's car. There was one child in the car and I remember being put in the back of the car and pouring blood all over the back of the leather seat which I was concerned about. My memory was waking up in Nelson Hospital after an operation. I'd had some large wooden pieces embedded in my brain. According to the surgeon, I wasn't lucky to be alive; it was his skill! I was in the next door bed to my brother. He mainly had glass in his head and the side of his head. (My glass came out twenty, thirty years later from the back of my hand and head). He must have been hit by something because he had a depressed fracture in the skull.
My mother had been upstairs and she had to wait for the fireman to come and rescue her because the staircase had gone. It was probably the staircase that caused the injury to my head.

In hospital, we learnt about V1s; when it cuts out, you count to five. If you get to five, it's missed you!

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Helena Noifeld of 大象传媒 Radio Kent and has been added to the website on behalf of Derrick William Sirman with his permission. He fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.