大象传媒

My brother, David, and I went to the only school in Aldershot, hit by a doodlebug. I had just written the date of the time of my arithmetic exam, July 1944 and written down the first sum. I wondered what the answer would be 鈥� the classroom door opened and the Maid stood there, with blood streaming down her face.

Bang 鈥� the windows shattered, and the soot came down the chimney in a dark choking fog.

We sat at very long tables, Gordon Wills and I, squashed up behind them in a corner, we were the last to get out.

In the corridor was a mass of screaming children, and crawling over their massed heads, were two teachers, all fighting their way to the narrow spiral wooden staircase which led to the Cellar.

They were fighting their way to the Cellar, just as the many air aid rehearals had advised them to do 鈥� ignoring the open front door. It was the Headmistress鈥檚 door, no one else could use it 鈥� we simply weren鈥檛 allowed to.

Gordon Wills suddenly turned and ran back to the classroom, I didn鈥檛 fancy my chances in that corridor, so I followed.

I hesitated at the window, he was halfway down the drive 鈥� the Headmistresses marigolds 鈥� it would be very naughty to jump on them, but they were beaten down with glass 鈥� I jumped. I ran across the Playground 鈥� Hillside Road had gone 鈥� it just wasn鈥檛 there.

I ran between the houses, waking inches deep in mud and broken tiles and there 鈥� was my Dad. Running towards me, struggling to do up the top button of his ARP uniform over his dog collar 鈥� 鈥淕o home, Daphne鈥� he said 鈥� 鈥淕o home鈥�.

They said it was a Miracle 鈥� that if it hadn鈥檛 been raining for three days that July, if the bomb hadn鈥檛 landed in that little rain oaked muddy dip and sunk deeply into it before it exploded, if it hadn鈥檛 landed in that little paddock (only yards away from the concrete road), if there three Oak trees, after which the School was named, hadn鈥檛 been in full leaf and standing directly between the bomb and our School 鈥� we would all have been killed.

And 鈥� was it because of the Prayers of a Country Parson, whose two children were in that School 鈥� who prayed for A Miracle.

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