大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer from the AGC Museum Winchester on behalf of Mrs Madeline Pressly and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Madeline Pressly understands the site's terms and conditions.

"I was 9, and from the middle of 1940, we went nightly to an air raid shelter that my father had had made, of reinforced concrete in our garden. We had tiers of bunkbeds, 3 layers high, and because I was the youngest I was always on the top bunk. My brother, cousins and Aunt were also there, smoking and drinking cocoa.

The condensation built up, beacuase there was no proper ventilation. There was no electricity either. This dripped on me all night long, I will always remember that. Beacuse of the interrupted sleep, my aunt always let me sleep on in the mornings, so that I was always, always late for school!!It was really embarassing.

My parents were musicians, and both were away on ENSA, working at the camps and munitions factories, encouraging the troops, doing shows. I was sent to boarding school in 1942, beacuse my parents were away. Our house was sold for next to nothing to our next door neighbours!

The other thing I remember is watching the doodlebugs from the Essex coast, travelling from Holland. They didnt stop on the Essex coast because they were timed to go up to London City."

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