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Air Raids at New Hall by A. David Owen

In the early part of the war, we often had to sleep at night in our garage which had been made into a reinforced concrete air raid shelter. I remember my mother used to worry about my father because he was often out on patrol as an air raid warden.

We lived in a house on the New Hall Estate. My grandmother lived in New Hall, Sutton Coldfield (now a well known hotel). We were near the railway line going near to the Castle Bromwich aerodrome and the Spitfire factory where Alex Henshaw was chief test pilot and stray bombs often landed near us — one came very close in the field opposite and made a great crater; one landed in a tree in the spinney near New Hall and was defused; one blew a section of the old bone windows in at New Hall, luckily without damage. The moat around New Hall because of the reflection of the water attracted many bombs and so it was filled with branches to stop the reflection in the moonlight.

I was only five at the time of the worst bombing and when we heard one come whistling down, a little voice piped up — ‘Don’t worry Mummy — Jesus is looking after us.’ This story was passed down to me many a time by my mother but of course I don’t remember saying it — but how can I forget it when it meant so much to my mother.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Sue Russell of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ on behalf of Mr A. David Owen and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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