大象传媒

My brother Cyril and I had been to the Cabot Cinema at Filton. Beforehand we were warned there would be an air raid. We lived at Lockleaze near Filton in Bristol. I was about 17years old. Then as we were going home some planes were dropping a stick of incendiary bombs.

One incendiary bomb fell into one of the dormer bungalows nearby in Filton. There was no one at home, and so we smashed a window to gain access, and we found a stirrup pump and bucket, and we went upstairs and put the fire out. When we got home a bomb had gone off and hit a wall near us, and the blast had hit the water main. The crater caused by the blast soon filled up with water.

I was working at BAC as a clerk. On the Wednesday raid of 25th September 1940, I was down in the shelter and we found later that two bombs had gone underneath the shelter and had not exploded. It was truly remarkable that this had happened. We had to evacuate from the shelter fast, and the shelter two or three down from where we were took a direct hit, and all its occupants killed. A terrible, terrible thing to have happened. So after this episode we had to use the fitting shop as a shelter from then on.

The raids were repeated two days later, on the 27th September. We had a squad of Polish Airforce to protect us and they prevented the Germans from dropping Bombs on the works. Though they had dropped bombs on Filton on a dairy in Mackie Road.

I became a home guard in the works. This involved guard duty and we had supper provided at night and breakfast in the morning. Later I was conscripted into the army and did my training at Colchester and then at Catterick Camp.

When I was 21 years of age, during 1944 I went to France, and was wounded. A bullet went through and out of the other side of my left thigh. The crashes and bangs lived with me for a long time. I was
evacuated by hospital ship and landed back at Southampton. Then transferred to a hospital near London, which I think was Park Pruett Hospital, near Basingstoke. I was transferred later to Yorkshire, later Pendlefields Emergency Hospital. I was fitted with a calliper. The injury had caused Sciatica Palsy because I could not lift my foot up. Eventually I returned to work at the BAC after lots of further surgery and treatment.

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