大象传媒

I must have been about five years old, when this event happened.

My mother, two sisters and I were huddled under the table in the living-room of our little council house. My father, who had served in the First World War, and had twice been wounded, was in the hall by the front door. If I remember correctly, he was in the ARP. Suddenly, there was a noise like an express train over the top of the house. My father shouted out 'Don't be frightened, it's the next one we have to worry about!' He knew that it was a bomb passing overhead, and that if several had been dropped we could well be in line for the next one. Fortunately, no more seemed to have been dropped. The bomb landed just a hundred yards away in St Mary's Walk, killing two people. At the end of the war, a large piece of iron was discovered in the loft immediately over my bed, which was said to have come from this explosion. Hayes lay in the direct path of aircraft flying to and from Germany on their way to London, and in order to lighten their load, the German pilots would discharge any undropped bombs at random.

A second similar incident occurred at about the same time, only on this occasion we were sleeping in the front room or parlour/best room. There was an almighty bang, and the windows blew out. An incendiary bomb had landed a mere thirty yards away. Fortunately, no one was injured, but it was a close shave.

One of the few plusses of WW2 was that it inspired in me a love of and fascination with the stars. Because of the black-out, when you went into the garden dug-out at night during the air raids, the sky was lit by a magnificent array of millions of glittering stars, the spectacle spoilt only by the searchlights. I feel so sorry for young people today, who because of light-pollution have never seen the night sky in all its glory.

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