大象传媒

On 4 May 1942 I was living at home with my parents at Mansfield Road, Exeter at the age of eighteen. I was working for Exeter City Council, in the Public Assistance Centre also dealing with the Rest Centres.

My grandmother, who was in her eighties, lived with her unmarried daughter in Russell Street, and I could see that the whole street was on fire as I made my way to the St David's Institute Rest Centre. There was a Lady in Charge, Mrs Bowden. During the course of the day my mother, and one of her sisters, called to ask if I had any information about their mother. We - my family - hadn't any, but subsequently we heard that she and her daughter had been taken to Ottery St Mary.

Eventually I went to look at where they had been living in Russell Street and to my surprise, as it was the middle one of three houses, it appeared to be undamaged, although either side they had been more or less demolished. I had the front door key so I went in to see what damage had been done and to my surprise there was none!...apart from one pane of glass cracked, I presume, from the heat from the builder's yard, at the rear, that had been burned. That was the only damage I found, which was amazing as everything around was lost, and that was left standing. The most surprising thing was that it was No 13! It was about the only thing left in the area, and my grandmother went back to live in it as everthing seemed to be alright.

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