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This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by CSV/大象传媒 Radio Nottingham on behalf of Bernard, Gertrude & James Chell with their permission. The Authors fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

It was during an Air Raid in Nottingham, which I believe to be in 1942 when I was aged 7. The air raid siren had been sounded and I was woken up by my father. We were on our way down the stairs to go into the Anderson Shelter in the garden when my father heard the planes going over and the bombs whistling as they came down.

Father obviously believed them to be close because he pushed my Mother and myself into the corner of the hallway against the wall and lay on top of us both. At the time we lived at 32, Manville Close off Radford Bridge Road, our house being close to the railway line.

There was an almighty explosion that shook the ground causing a back door of the house to blow open from that blast. After a short time we made it to the shelter safely where we stayed until the all clear sounded.

We learned the next day that houses on Charlebury Road on the other side of the railway line had been destroyed and people killed - a distance of approximately 200 yards from our house. Further along houses were also destroyed on Felstead Road again close to the railway line. Other bombs landed in the fields close to the Canal at Wollaton. It was thought that the Pilot was trying to destroy the railway line.

All the time the raid was taking place anti-aircraft guns from the Battery on Beechdale Road could be heard firing.

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