大象传媒

I had my sixth birthday during the Battle of Britain and the corner of kent where we lived, between Canterbury and Dover was part of "Hellfire Corner". The sight of planes "dog fighting" in the sky above, diving and twisting, the sound of engines and the rattle of canon fire had become so familiar every day, that sometimes you did not bother to look up as you would have a permanent crick in the neck if you watched it all the time. It was Sunday September 15th which is now commemorated as Battle of Britain Sunday, the date when the R.A.F. shot down sixty one German aircraft and the invasion of Britain was subsequently cancelled.

It was a beautiful day; not a cloud in the sky. I was with my parents and cousins, blackberrying next to the cricket ground in our village of Barham. It was a very good year for blackberries and this stretch of field had huge bramble clumps. With the food shortages and rationing, blackberries were much in demand for jam and jelly and bottling in kilner jars for pies during winter. Small boys only picked for eating and as always, the plumpest and juiciest berries were just out of reach and required a suitable stick to pull the branches down. Engaged in this absorbing task, I lagged behind and hearing shouts I looked around to see everybody lying flat on the ground. At the same time I heard the sound of a plane approaching and saw it flying very low and banking round, the familiar black crosses on its fuselage and swastika on the tail; a Messerschmitt 109. I heard canon fire, saw flashes from the gun ports in the wings and stood rooted to the spot fascinated by the line of earth clods kicked up either side of me.

As the plane flew overhead it banked again and I have this lasting memory of the helmeted face of the German pilot looking down at me out of the opened cockpit canopy.

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Helena Noifeld and has been added to the website on behalf of J.W.Colthup with his permission. He fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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