大象传媒

This story was submitted by James Stevens at the 大象传媒 Three Counties Archive Day in Luton. He agrees to the story being included on the site, and understands the terms and conditions.

My school was in Potter Street, Essex, and my home was in a small village three miles away. This location was in the middle of a number of airfields; North Weald, Hunsden, Matching, Stanstead etc.

One day while walking home from school, (no buses in this time) we watched a large flight of German planes circling above us. They were waiting for the fighter planes to takeoff, as there were many false plywood planes in false airfields in the area.

Suddenly one plane dived down and we watched the machine gun bullets hitting the road in front of us. We all jumped in the ditch at the side of the road to escape. This plane then came back and tried to massacre us. Later, when the fighters were able to take off, we stood and watched the dog fight.

Whenever a plane crashed nearby, all the boys in the area used to try and get the windscreen of the plane to make into rings for the girls.

One other incident I remember. I was cycling along the road, chasing after a doodlebug. Well, the rocket crash landed on the road at Nazeing, but failed to detonate. When the police arrived, they found us sitting on it. Lets say they were not impressed!

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