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[This story was submitted to the People’s War website by a volunteer from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Cambridgeshire on behalf of Doreen Bruce and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Bruce fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.]

I remember being at home in Gedney Dyke, Lincolnshire, with grandma when I answered a knock at the door. A lost German airman stood at the door — I was only about 6 years old, so I asked him in and offered him something to drink. When my grandma came downstairs she was furious — very angry with me — but when she had calmed down she shared what little we had with the airman and he left.

Some time later, a simple, hand-beaded necklace, which was typical of the kind local POWs made, was placed anonymously through the door. My grandmother guessed this was from the grateful airman and she wore it until the day she died, when she passed it down to me.

I also remember, as children, gathering up the silver paper which was dropped by planes to jam the radar as we played near the Drove End bombing range.

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