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This story was submitted to the people鈥檚 war site by Samuel from Dover Road School and has been added to the website on behalf of Hugh Marshall with his permission and they fully understand site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

War Experiences

The first thing I remember of the war was my teacher at Goring hall in Goring in Sussex told us we would have to wear more clothing when we went to school because the heating had to be turned off to save fuel for the war effort and I can remember the headmasters wife collecting nettles to use as vegetables.

During the battle of Britain I was coming away from Worthing hospital with my foster mother, I was only six years old, when they were bombing the gas works on the other side of the road. We took cover in somebody鈥檚 house underneath there dining room table, we never did know who鈥檚 house it was. Then we caught the last bus to Ferring which is five miles west of Worthing. There again were machine guns by an enemy air craft and we took cover under a hedge to a house called Green Ways in Sea Lane. I was hit in my left arm and an old lady who was taking cover with us under the hedge was killed.

During the build up to the Norbandy landings (D day) and the vast amount of ammunition and war surpluses stored in the fields were I lived. There was so much of it they didn鈥檛 fence or guard it. The solders had shown us how to prime and grenades and our local policeman was chasing us up one of the local hills and one of my friends rolled a hand grenade down at the policeman. He cycled very fast down the hill and unfortunately was not hurt. But a few days later my friend and I all received a very hard smack around the ears. Also we used to light little bonfires and put life bullets on them.

Because of the shortage of food there was one method of getting extra meat which was to put a rope on a cow or bullock and let it wonder into one of the mine fields. It was then dragged out with horses and shared amongst the village because all food was rationed.
Also one of the farmer鈥檚 cows shed was two inches two small and he was not aloud to sell the milk. So all the family used to take their rice ration to the farmers wife and she used to make milk puddings with her milk and our rice.

50 years after the war I found out that I was related to Rudolf Hess he was my great great uncle.

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