大象传媒

In September 1939, I remember whilst on holiday at Clacton on Sea, listening to the radio and hearing Chamberlain saying this country is now at war with Germany. I was at Clacton with my parents, staying at a guest house and other guests were in the same room with us at the time.

As I reached the age of 5 soon after the war began, I attended the infant section of the newly opened Henry Gotch Infant school in Kettering. Many of our mothers spent hours sticking brown gummed paper in the form of crosses on the glass window panes to stop flying glass in the event of bombs dropping.

My father occasionally did fire watching at his place of work during the night time. This was at the William Timpson shoe factory in Kettering. One night he got me to stay with him overnight. From the roof of the tall building we could see a red flickering glow to the South; the London Blitz, over 70 miles away.

As I lived in Kettering during the war we were quite close to several American air bases. The plane engines were run up for what seemed ages before taking to the air. My father and I would stand looking up at them whilst they gained height and formed into formation before disappearing. There appeared to be hundreds of them. I understand now that the planes, B17's flying fortresses from various bases, would form into formation before going off. When we heard the planes returning we would go outside to see how many planes were fortunate enough to return. Many had serious damage to wings, tails and fuselage - lots with engines out of action or missing. Although we never did an actual count it was obvious that many of them didnt make it home.

Out cycling one day, closest to our nearest army base, Grafton Underwood, we were stopped by a guard I believe. My parents had their identity cards but not mine. However, after spotting I had a Union Jack flag on the front of my bike we were allowed to proceed.

Later on in the war we were again on holiday at Clacton on Sea. One night whilst walking home I think from the cinema, we saw several Doodlebugs fly over the road we were walking down - Wesllesly Road. During the same holiday at Clacton I would shelter under the dinner table after the siren had sounded and heard numerous Doodlebugs flying over, with the occasional one explode a long way away. At one time my father and I ventured into the backyard and saw one skimming the rooftops. This of course was still at Clacton. Although I cant remember whether it was the same summer holiday, September, as we went to Clacton above once during the war. I would go with my parents to the sea front road to the South of the pier. Here we would watch the heavy gunners practising firing at a target towed behind a plane at sea. The plane would keep flying parallel to the beach and would then return in the opposite direction. Occasionally they had a direct hit but luckily not on the plane.
In the evening when it was dark we would venture to some ground to the North of the pier, next to a large searchlight trying to pick up army planes. I can remember the large moths attracted to the searchlight. The sands between Walton on the Naze and Clacton were covered in anti landing gear i.e concrete blocks and thick metal poles.

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