大象传媒

I left our home in Upminster Bridge one morning and was walking through a field to get to the road to catch the bus to Roneo when a airplane passed over my head. It was so low that I was able to see the pilot clearly and he waved and smiled at me. I assumed he was returning to Hornchurch from a raid so imagine my shock when after he had passed I caught sight of the swastika on the tail! I thought, 鈥淥h my God, I could have been killed鈥�

I started to feel a bit shaky but carried on walking toward the road. I met up with another girl who had also seen them. The air-raid siren started to sound and as we were passing a cottage a woman came out and took us both in. We started chatting mainly about our shock and disbelief that they had been Germans and our lucky escape. The people further west were not so lucky as the planes had reached Barking before the warning was sounded. I learned later that my sister-in-law Elsie was affected and had needed to go to the Shelter with her baby son.

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