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Saturday 24 August 1940 will stay in the memory of any one my age — especially at 11.15 that morning for at that time a squadron of German bombers were approaching Manston, when their leading aircraft was shot down over the harbour. They in vengeance decided to release their bombs over Ramsgate — this was the first air raid by them on an unprotected town. At around 11am on a Saturday it was my job at work (I was Clerk at the local Flour Mill) to make a rough check as to the wheat contents of all the hoppers in the Silo. I had reached the top of the Silo when the air raid siren sounded. It would have been impossible to reach the ground level very quickly, and hearing the plane engines I peered out of a window at the top just in time to see many enemy planes release their bombs right overhead. The noise was ear-splitting as the bombs exploded on the ground below. I was unhurt but the air was filled with chalk dust and the mill had received some hits. As the bombing had cut off all the electricity, I had a very difficult time climbing down with dust choking me and almost utter darkness.

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