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Whilst discussing the intensity of German activity in our particular neck of the woods, we were, relatively speaking, quite well removed from the heart of London. In fact I can vividly recall kneeling, with Gerry, on the windowsill of our small south facing bedroom to watch without any great excitement, the whole southern horizon glow deep red as London burned at the height of the 'Blitz'. Yet, as I have already stated, we had our fair share of local attention from the Luftwaffe. The Dollis Hill research station we have latterly learned was the centre of the highly secret and successful Radar experiments that gave our crews the edge in the air and at sea. In addition, we only just recently discovered that the first electronic computer, grandly named ‘Colossus’ was developed and built at this time at the Dollis Hill Research Station. This machine was subsequently erected at Bletchley Park, the famous Station 'X' where Turing and his team broke the complex German 'Enigma' code which effectively won the war for us! This in itself would explain the excitement that spiced up the colourless round that was every day life at Tanfield Avenue.

However, I was truly amazed to hear from newly released documents that there was a highly classified alternate ‘War Room’ built underground roughly half way between our house and the research station. Churchill had been there. It was to have come into operation should the London centre of operations have suffered extinction. I can't believe that all this was going on as we kids cycled past playing our games. We must have been within feet of it, yet had no idea. Only now, some sixty years later do we find out and I feel I must, somehow, make the effort to go back yet again, just to stand on the spot and relive the moment. Of course as I have mentioned, Gerry and I did pay a nostalgic return to see our old stamping ground but we knew nothing of this latest revelation or of 'Colossus’ at that time. It surprises me to realise that I feel in some way, cheated. Sitting here now, a sad resentment rises in me that I wasn't told. I feel, in this instance, we were somehow excluded. It makes no sense I know. 'Tell you one thing, looking back on it; the chap that programmed the guidance on that Doodle Bug did a good job. As I said, it fell in the park but that hole in the ground was probably within half a mile of ‘The Research’ or the ‘War room’ or even 150 Tanfield Avenue.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Raymond John Lawrence M.B.E and has been added to the site with his kind permission. Mr Lawrence fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Continue reading Mr Lawrence's story by clicking below:

• 1) At the beginning…
• 2) Life in the shelters
• 3) ‘Our Gang’
• 4) We barely made it
• 5) We kids were all pretty well behaved
• 7) The ‘Golden Couple’
• 8) An evening’s entertainment
• 9) The ‘Underpant’ Episode
• 10) Where did I fit in?
• 11) The School Song
• 12) I wonder…

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