大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer from 大象传媒 Essex on behalf of Kitt Rawley and has been added to the site with her permission. Kit understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was about 14 years old when the War started and was living at home in Isledon Road, Finsbury Park, London with my parents and brothers - five of them!

At the beginning of the War the German bombers went after the railway at Finsbury Park and our road backed onto the railway. In one of the houses badly damaged during a raid, a whole family died as they sat playing cards - they were just sat there, it was the shock wave that had killed them.

Only two days after my mother moved out of our house, a huge iron girder, blown off the railway by a bomb during another raid, went right through the roof, missing a baby's cot on the top floor by about a foot.

We had moved to Waltham Cross where we had the use of the air raid shelters built by pre war builders - these were far better than most of the others we had seen. During an air raid a land mine was dropped - these were attached to parachutes. Seeing it coming down, my Mum thought it was a German airman and called for Dad to bring his Home Guard rifle - even though it was only a wooden cut out!! She took and ran out shouting, "Don't you touch my bleedin' girls, I'll shoot you!!"

The land mine had missed it's target, the gunpowder factory at Waltham Abbey, and hit a gasholder. My Grandmother's house nearby was totally undamaged, but at Mum's house some miles away, the lock on the front door was blown out finishing up in the sitting room!!! Later on when I drew the sitting room curtains, the whole lot came down on me!!

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