大象传媒

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This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Bramley History Society and has been added to the website on behalf of Jean Burge with her permission and she fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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My family lived in North East London. In 1940 or 1941 when I was eight or nine years old, we went on holiday to Shaldon opposite Teignmouth. We were sitting on the beach when we became aware of a hit and run raid on Teignmouth. A plane dropped bombs on the town and then carried on down the river. I was playing on the beach a short distance from my parents and two very young brothers, when I was grabbed by a strange man and pushed under an upturned rowing boat. The plane went four or five miles upriver and turned and came up the Shaldon coast. It dropped a bomb on the bowling green which did not explode, and proceeded to machine gun those on the beach. I remember distinctly seeing a man in the plane, it was flying so low. It then went out to sea. I was very frightened! The bowling green was fenced off, and we became aware that the bomb disposal men were digging it up to look for the unexploded bomb.
Living in London in 1944 we used to see the doodlebugs. My mother and I went to get one of my brother鈥檚 from kindergarten one block away. We were bringing him back home when there was a noise of a motor very low overhead. My mother had my youngest brother in the pram, and my ten year old brother and I ran up to our house hoping that the motor did not cut out. Fortunately it went over the edge of Epping Forest and landed in a local street. We were saved!

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