- Contributed by听
- csvdevon
- People in story:听
- John Chadwick
- Location of story:听
- Eltham, and Dewsbury,Yorks
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A4852415
- Contributed on:听
- 07 August 2005
This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People's War site by CSV Storygatherer Alison Lear on behalf of John Chadwick. The story has been added to the site with his permission. And John Chadwick fully understands the terms and conditions of the site.
Continued from part 2 - Story A4851795 -"Frankie's coat".
I went to 16 different schools in the war years. In 1944 I won a scholarship to the Woolwich Polytechnic but within two months we suffered the attacks of the flying bombs (V1s). At Eltham we were in the direct firing line between France and London and often I counted several V1s in the sky at one time.
As well as Frankie Howard another famous son of Eltham was Bob Hope. After a while we renamed "doodlebug alley" "Bob Hope alley" because if you heard one coming and the engine shut off you quickly had to "bob" down and "hope" for the best!
At the height of the VI onslaught we started getting the V2s which blew up on the ground and you heard them coming with a sonic bang. It was decided once more by my parents that I should be evacuated and I went with other children to Euston where we boarded a train for the North. After several hours we arrived at a place called Mexborough and I asked a man walking along the railway line where we were going and he called back what sounded to me like "Jubilee". I thought that was nice, we were going to have some street parties but it turned out to be Dewsbury in Yorkshire!
We spent the night in the village hall and the next day were paraded in cars around the locality looking for people to take us in. Another lad and I were the last two left in a big car ( because at 14 we were the oldest). We were taken in by a reluctant couple who made our lives a misery. After a couple of months I was able to return home and I was so relieved. The end of the war saw me join the ATC (Air Training Corps) and I spent VE night in my uniform with friends at the West End celebrations.
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