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Valley Road Memories

In 1938 at the age of 5, I remember walking through Sudbourne Park, near Orford in Suffolk and seeing lots of aircraft flying around, possibly testing the radar at Bawdsey.

In 1941 or 1942 there was a rash of barrage balloons all over Ipswich. One was about 100 yards from our house in Valley Road, near to Broomhill Park. I think each balloon had several men to run it and the airmen involved lived in bell tents nearby. Mum would help them by washing and mending their clothes and sometime give them food and I used to hang around their tents (trying to help!) One of the guys name was Harry, he came from Derby and I think he was their radio man. I had to disappear if anybody important turned up. I used to sit in the tent and wait for the signal to come through to stand by, Pink 22, when it got to Pink 20 I had to call Harry to do his job. I thought I was so important, I still have a circular jigsaw that they gave me, it’s called ‘Flying through the ages’.

One evening, prior to D Day, the lower part of Broomhill Park was covered with American tanks with their crews in tents by the side. By the next morning they were all gone. I imagine it was one of the governments deliberate ploys to make the Germans think the invasion was coming from this area

One Sunday towards the end of the war, mum, dad and me had been to tea in Westerfield and were walking back to Valley Road, we heard a German aircraft (by then we knew the sound), looked up and saw the pulse jet light up and splutter away to the south. I found out later that this was a doodlebug launch.

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