大象传媒

July 1942. Trowbridge was just waking up with factory workers going to their early morning shifts. Others were thinking of coming off night duty. Suddenly the town was shaken with a terrific explosion. We were still in bed. Maybe the sirens had gone and we were just a little complacant but I say to this day I am not quite sure whether I was blown out of bed or jumped out very quickly. As the bombs were about a quarter of a mile away perhaps it was the latter, but I remember my mum dashing to the bedroom window and saying 'That one was close Bert' Dad only worked down the road on Ushers Brewery Transport and after his usual quick wash at the tap in the back yard he was off - but shortly returned solemn faced. 'The Town Bridge has been bombed (actually it had just escaped) there are no windows left up the Parade and all the shop windows up to the Station are out'. A stick of bombs had been droppped by a hit and run raider. The British Legion Club(now restored and known as Bridge House - but still minus the bombed wing ) received a direct hit -where two young ladies were killed - and the Bear Public House opposite had been reduced to a single storey. To start with there were fewer children at school that morning. A rumour had gone round that because of the bombing there would be no school that day! In mid-morning the Headmaster, Mr. Bryant arrived, followed by a lot of sheepish looking chldren who had been rounded up at the Town Bridge. We were then taken in groups to his room where embedded in his chair was a piece of shrapnel which had come through his window. He informed us that if this had been in the day he might have been killed.
After school we went to have a look at the devastation. The British Legion Club was spread across the road, and the Blind House (old prison) on the other side of the bridge had only half of its stone roof left. What was even more dramatic was the huge crater in the gasworks gate. One of the bombs had only just missed the large gasometer. There was another crater behind Hill Street close to the river. The public house survived with a tin roof for quite a few years but eventually was demolished. Later in the evening small groups of older folk wandered around not quite believing that this could have happened in their own town. As in many other towns road widening at this point was really started by Hitler's bombs. The shop windows were not completely replaced until after the war. They were boarded up with a little window about two foot square in the middle. Trowbridge had other raids, either at the army camps or on the outskirts but this was the closest to home and a morning I shall never forget.

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