大象传媒

I was just seventeen when the 1939-1945 War started. I was ready to go for a bike ride with my boyfriend when my father called us back into the house to listen to the announcement by Mr Chamberlain on the wireless 鈥� no television in those days. It was a very sombre speech 鈥� but we decided to go for our ride, as it was such a lovely day. The air raid siren sounded which put the fear of God into many people as a 鈥淪potter Plane鈥� or 鈥淩econnaissance Plane鈥� came over and some guns started shooting at it. It soon went away.

So off we went. The first six months of the war were quiet, just odd raids 鈥� but town of Ipswich was often passed over by aircraft going to places like Birmingham and Coventry. They unloaded any bombs they had over on the way back to Germany. The dock area of our town had MTB boats and Minesweepers stationed there.

One raid I remember was on our docks and a plane was hit (a German plane). This plane came across where I lived and crashed into Gyppeswyck Park. The two airmen baled out and we could see them drifting to earth and as they came you could see them tearing up papers which came down like confetti. The people were so angry because this plane had dropped some bombs before being hit. So people went into their houses and came out with knives, choppers, sticks, and the Germans came down into a very angry crowd that had gathered. The authorities had also followed their descent and the Police and Army moved in to stop a very nasty situation. The people were ready to lynch them.

This incident followed a former raid in which a load of personnel bombs (like small tin cans) had been dropped. These bombs were dropped in quite a number and landed in the yard of Ransome and Rapiers. Naturally the young men picked them up out of curiosity. These were some of the first to be seen. One boy took the can into the workshop and a few others came round to see what they had got. They then proceeded to open it 鈥� and it went off killing six of the assembled company and injuring several more. They were called butterfly bombs.

My boyfriend should have been on night shift this particular night and it was quite by chance that he was taken off. He had to go into work the next day to identify his friend. There were only his shoes left to identify him by. He also helped to clear up the mess of blood and guts.

We also had a huge landmine in Ipswich. It came down by parachute. It did not explode (which was lucky). The Bomb Disposal Squad removed most of the explosive before it finally exploded. Windows two miles away were shattered. We were walking along by Burtons when the windows there smashed.

One man in our town was on Fire Watch and when the siren went he made sure his wife and six children went into their garden shelter. He took up his position within sight of his house and garden, and saw a bomb score a direct hit on his shelter killing his whole family.

Later on in the war I was cycling home, it was a very cloudy day and the Barrage Balloons had already been put up. There was no siren so naturally everyone thought it was OK. I heard a series of explosions in the direction I had to go 鈥� then suddenly in front of me 鈥� coming toward me was a German plane. I could see the marking very plainly also the face of the gunner who was machine gunning the road. The siren went to add to the row. I was petrified. It was all over so quickly 鈥� an elderly couple had thrown themselves down. I though they had been hit, but they were alright. I made my way home 鈥� shaking. My way home took me by the dock area. When I got there the Police and Army were sealing the road off 鈥� but I could see that a huge Granary had been hit and a mountain of grain was blocking the road. I learned afterwards that a small bakery along this road, had the owner and a young boy who helped him in a horse and cart outside 鈥� and they were blasted and smothered by the grain. Fifteen minutes earlier and I would have been passing that way.

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