大象传媒

Mum and Dad were caretakers at the Church Hall, where lots of other activities took place during the week. We had all just got the hall set out for the church service. It was a dark Saturday night, evening time. An air raid started, so we sat in the passage next to the stage thinking it was safer than in our flat upstairs adjoining the hall. Suddenly, two incendiary bombs came whishing through the roof and landed on the parquet floor in the corner by the stage and next to the passage where we were. Fortunately they were not the exploding ones.

The whole building rocked like a ship on a rough sea. We scrambled, as the flames began to rise! I managed to pick up a big tin bath full of earth that Dad had ready in the garden for emergencies and threw it on the bombs. My young brother Terry, who was about eleven or twelve, and the others were busy with stirrup pumps and water to extinguish the flames. The hall was filled with smoke and ash. Mum opened the door to let in some fresh air. Outside was chaos as fires were burning everywhere in the streets. In the midst of it all a man came in the hall and asked if we had a piano. He sat down and played really well while we sang along!

Where he came from or where he went we will never know, but we saved the building and finished on a cheery note.

Next day when Dad refilled the bath with earth, I couldn鈥檛 even move it, let alone lift it up.

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