大象传媒

Before the war my father, Walter Alfred Barnett was Engineering Manager at Barnet Gasworks. In 1935 he retired from ill heath.

In 1939 he was conscripted into the RAF. He was stationed in Weston-Super-Mare, and his role was putting gas into barrage balloons. His commanding officer once asked his to mix these two gases together. My father told him where to go, saying: 鈥測ou鈥檇 blow us up quicker than Hitler鈥�. My father came home, wrapped his uniform in brown paper and posted it back to the RAF.

Later he applied for the job of Engineer and Manager at the Mid-Kent Gas, Light and Coke Company in Snodland, Kent.

The night our family travelled down to Snodland was the first night of the blitz. I remember my dad stopped his Austin 12 car on an iron bridge over-looking the West Indian Docks. He lifted me up so that I could see all the buildings ablaze like big wooden barns.

In early 1940, five or six aerial mines were released on parachutes by the Germans hitting my father's gas works. Most of the gas works was destroyed, as well as a tug towing five petrol barges. The gasholders were damaged as well as the Retort House (the ovens in which the coal was baked to drive off the gas). I went down to the gas works the following morning to see the damage. As a souvenir, I retrieved one of the silk ropes that were used to attach the mine to the parachute (see picture). It took the staff at the gas works a little over a fortnight to start producing gas again. To do so in such a short space of time was seen as a great achievement. In recognition of their efforts in May the following year, my father received a MBE for the King, and his foreman (Reg May) got the OBE.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Stephan Butler on behalf of Michael Barnett with his permission. Michael fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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