´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Three Counties Action on behalf of Eileen Mercer and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was born in Dallow Road Luton then we moved to Villa Road, I had a very happy childhood with two brothers. I suppose when you are 0-8 you only remember happy things but I will always remember that Sunday morning when war was declared September 3rd 1939. My Father was a hat manufacturer and my great Aunt and Uncle owned ‘Scales’ (Hat Manufacturer) they had indoor and outdoor workers, hat manufacturers delivered hats to houses for ladies to trim.

The factory was devastated, it was flattened by a bomb, it must have been a very large bomb. My Father had come home for lunch and just as he was about to go out to the yard this tremendous thing crashed into our garden, if I remember rightly it was a hat-blocking machine. So I think that day God was looking down on my Dad. As the crow flies I lived in Villa road which is about 300 yards away, the force of the blast threw everything everywhere, at that moment we knew it was a bomb but didn’t know where it came from.

In the trees there were ribbons and materials just like someone had gone up there and strung up for Xmas.

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