大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Jacky Hayward of Hastings Community Learning Centre for 大象传媒 SCR on behalf of Mr Geoffrey Parr and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Parr fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I lived at 2 -3 Claremont, Hastings, East Sussex, In 1939 I enlisted into the Home Guard I was only 14 years old but I said I 16. We were not issued with any weapons only broom stick to practice the drill and had night duty once a week. I would finish work at the RASC records office at Ore Place, Elphinstone Road, go home for an hour and then off to night duty for the Home Guard and in the morning straight back to work meaning we did not sleep for 48 hours. Most days I would get the bus (I still remember the registration it was KJ 1933 and was a Leyland Titan) to work and would end up having to push the bus up the last bit of the hill with other young men. On the days that I took my bike it would take me half an hour to get to work but coming home it would take 5 minutes as I did not use my brakes until I got into town.
My wife June was 8 years old and lived in Hastings old town. Some days when there was lots of air activity she would, with the rest of her class have to go to a hidden gate in Croft Road, this would lead into the caves where she would have her lessons, sometimes she would have to sleep in there. They had bunk beds and tables in there which were damp and musty. She also remembers on a Sunday afternoon at 1 o鈥檆lock, when German planes had started to bomb the town, she was out playing and when the air raid started she ran to her grandmothers. Her parents could not find her and thought that she had been near the swan public house which had a direct hit killing many. When at last her parents found her she got a smack for being out in an air raid. At the same time I was at the other end of town and saw the planes fly over and ran into the Holy Trinity church doorway and crouched down with my hands over my head until they passed.

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