大象传媒

I lived in Enfield, North London. There was a large industrial area, a small arms factory (where my mum and dad both worked) and a railway line on our doorstep.

I was six years old when World War Two began and there are lots of things I still remember. One in particular was concerning the V1 (the Doodlebug as it was called).

My mother was on holiday and I had taken time off from school. It was when the doodlebug attacks had first started. The siren sounded and we both went into the garden and stood by our Air Raid Shelter (Anderson Shelter as it was called)

Coming towards us, high in the sky, we heard and saw the doodlebug heading our way. We felt quite safe as we knew whilst the engine kept sounding it would pass over and (feeling very guilty) we wished it would keep going, not knowing where it would fall or who it would kill, but not wanting it to fall on us.

Suddenly, when the doodlebug was directly overhead, the engine stopped, so we jumped very swiftly into the shelter - or rather Mum kicked me down into it! It must have been awful being a parent in wartime.

There was a tremendous explosion and we felt the earth beneath our feet shake. We had no idea what we would see when we finally emerged from the shelter.

Rags which were once curtains waved from the broken windows, glass and roof tiles littered the pavements. We saw huge billows of smoke rising into the sky and on further investigation found that my school, Chesterfield Road School had received a direct hit.

One teacher (Miss Parnell) had been killed and miraculously only two children were injured as the majority had been in the school shelters.

This is one of many frightening incidents I remember, but the one which is embedded in my mind more than any other.

I was also evacuated to the country in Wales which seemed like heaven after London. I think the air-raid siren went off only once the whole time we were there.

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