大象传媒

This story was saved at the Bedfordshire County Show and submitted to the People's War site by Gillian Ridley for Three counties action on behalf of Mr Erni Bounds and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

In 1943 we lived in Homer Street, Marylebone in West London. I remember the buzz bombs and going down into the underground stations and stepping over people, it was very crowded.

Our home was destroyed and Mum me and my brother were put up with relatives around Victoria way.

My next memory was standing on a platform with a label on my clothes and short trousers. I also remember my Mickey Mouse gas mask. We, my brother and I, ended up in Dawlish Devon right by the sea, there was barbed wire all along the beach and armed cars along the front.

We used to watch the planes coming over and the ack-ack guns firing at them. On one took much notice of the air raid sirens as they were going off all the time.

We were moved to Lumberton near Tavastock in a big house and the family took me and my brother in, their family had grown up and moved to Plymouth, I think they felt sorry for us. I can remember watching dogfights there.
There was as air raid one day and we all were running out of the house when I fell and broke my leg, I ended up in hospital for weeks.

When we came back to London we had a funny accent, they couldn鈥檛 understand us. We all moved into a requisition house in Upper Montague Street Marylebone.

Dad was invalided out of the war he had server 5 years in Royal Artillery, he was presented with a large certificate acknowledging his time in the war between 1939-1945.

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