大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Laura from High Halden Church of England Primary School and has been added to the website on behalf of Mr. Tony Bryan with his permission and they fully understand the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.
In 1942 I used to cycle to school in Manchester. This was after school in summer,
Suddenly there was a tremendous roar. There was a German bomber, a Dornier, closely followed by a Spitfire. Then the sirens went off but they were two minutes late! The Spitfire had already shot down the German plane. We were laughing so much we nearly fell off our bikes!

In 1940 when I was 13 my mother had had an operation for appendicitis. My mother was recuperating at my grandmother鈥檚. My father had a building in central Manchester, he and I were on fire watching duty. My mother couldn鈥檛 come with us. I pleaded with her to come and when she said no I said,
鈥淚t would serve you right if you got killed.鈥� I still regret saying those words. When we drove out of Manchester to go and say hello to my mother we found total devastation. A German land mine had dropped on next door鈥檚 garage and there was debris everywhere. We drove home, my father went out and an hour later my aunt came down the drive with a bandage round her head. My father went around the hospitals and found my mother in the mortuary, an experience I will never forget.
Written on the 7th of July 2005

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