大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War for Three Counties Action on behalf of Peggy M Allan and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

What was that!!!

I woke with a start and shot up in the bed. Bewildered I knew something horrific had shattered me into awakening. My sleep shuttered eyes fought frantically to stay open as they searched wildly around the place for something out of the usual. In the dim light of a paraffin lamp perched on a small ledge in the corner everything appeared as it should be. What had awakened me? I was confused and frightened.

Mrs Evans, my companion, a white haired, very elderly widow, who鈥檇 been shocked also into awaked ness, jumped out of her bed on the opposite side of the temporary bedroom as rapidly as her thickened joints would permit. I watched closely as she tore back the damp, stained, musty smelling curtain covering the door, and stared out into the black night. I could only sit, bolt upright, numbed into a statue on the hard bed, following her every movement tensely waiting for her to say something. I kept thinking 鈥淗urry up. What can you see?鈥� I longed to leap up and push past the bent figure into the blackness 鈥� but my knees were paralysed, locked with fear.

Still peering parrot-like outside, Mrs. Evans, to my annoyance, still said nothing, but I couldn鈥檛 help noticing her forced breathing breaking the unnatural silence. It reminded me of a steam train huffing and chuffing up a hill. Then in the semi-darkness, my eyes followed the white head of hair making its way stumbling, back to the other bed. After what seemed an age the trembling old ladies voice croaked out in my direction. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what it was Peg. It鈥檚 so black out there I couldn鈥檛 see anything,鈥� adding, wringing her hands and full of dread, 鈥淲e鈥檒l have to wait till daylight. We must pray for God to help us luv鈥�. I knew it had been a fine, clear evening earlier but the weather must have changed.

The air in our confined space had taken on a peculiar dryness and this added to the discomfort of our situation. A strangeness enveloped us both. I began to shiver and was conscious of my palms becoming slippery with moisture. A slight sick feeling crept its way up from the pit of my stomach until it reached my parched mouth.

I gave a shudder and pulled the old woollen coat lying on the bed around my huddled shoulders. The book I鈥檇 been reading earlier had finished up open, face down, abandoned on the dirty floor. An unappetising, curled at the edges sandwich lay, dried up half eaten on the bed, where I鈥檇 left it before falling asleep, it鈥檚 scraps of hardened cheese fallen out onto the blanket.

Mrs Evans didn鈥檛 comfort me for, shaken, she proceeded also to sink into a stony silence. Staring fixedly at the course, grey blanket ruffled on top of me, horrifying pictures crept into my mind. My family, father, mother, sister and brothers must all have perished out there! I would never see them again! Then it hit me like a savage blow! Here was I, fourteen years old, completely alone in the world! What would happen to me? I was so frightened! Tears leaked then overflowed to flood my grief stricken eyes running non-stop to land like a shower on the blanket below.

On what was to seem the longest night of my life we both perched mute on our beds and waited for the arrival of daylight. My heart winced as I mourned lost childhood days but, fleetingly, daring to look forward for a second I knew I would always remember with horror 鈥� the night of the 9th September 1940.

When we climbed out of the Air Raid Shelter as dawn broke we instantly knew what had occurred the night before. Mrs Evans house in front of us was no more. Nothing but its skeleton confronted us. On the other side of the road where I lived a complete row of houses were gone. We searched upwards towards the roof tops but saw nothing but sky.

During the night a 1,000lb German Bomb had dropped on Dunedin Road, Leyton, E10, demolishing or blasting most of the houses there.

My family were all safe. As we didn鈥檛 have a shelter of our own we split up and shared neighbour鈥檚 shelters. I shared with Mrs Evans over the road.

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