大象传媒

I was six when war broke out and twelve on VE Day; thus I had lived half my life under war conditions. My home was in Bromley, apart from twelve months or so in 1939 - 40, when we stayed at an aunt at Otford near Sevenoaks.

I was placed in the village school two miles away. In the event of an air raid we children had to take shelter in the village hall. One afternoon I decided I would go home rather than stay in the hall.
There were dog fights overhead, planes whirling around in the skies, zooming down low then climbing into the heavens, the roar of the engines, the rattle of the machine guns. Sometimes a faint 'pouf', a whine which developed into a scream as a plane fell from the sky, on fire, to crash a couple of fields away.
My aunt's house was on a rise approached by a lane with a large open field on one side. I was nearly home, walking up the lane, when a fighter flying low at treetop height roared up behind me, guns blazing, spraying the lane infront of me. I came under fire for the first time at the age of seven.

We children were realists, but thankfully we had not developed the imagination of the adults; it must have been hell for mothers waiting for their families to return safely at the end of the day.

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Helena Noifeld of 大象传媒 Radio Kent and has been added to the website on behalf of Edward Le Besque with his permission. He fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.