- Contributed by听
- CSV Actiondesk at 大象传媒 Oxford
- Location of story:听
- Bognor Regis, Sussex
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A4401550
- Contributed on:听
- 08 July 2005
'This story was submitted to the 大象传媒 People's War site by a volunteer from CSV Oxford, on behalf of Zo毛 Mills and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'
During the War, Zo毛 was a teenager, living in Bognor Regis, Sussex. Her most memorable recollections were quite moving, from D-Day and a few weeks after.
You could not see either the sky or the sea for planes with gliders following them and many ships towing boats behind them. At the time, we did not know what was happening until it was announced on the Radio (there was no television in those days!)
Neither Bognor nor Chichester suffered from bombs. The Germans used Chichester Cathedral as a landmark. The few bombs that were dropped were so that German planes could get away quicker, while being chased by Spitfires from Tangmere Aerodrome just north of Bognor.
On one occasion, I was on the Putting Green near the front. There was an anti- rank defence between it and the sea; consisting of iron scaffolding, which we would climb! Suddenly a German plane came right over us, at a very low height. It was followed by a Spitfire and they were heading towards the sea. We climbed the anti tank defence to see what would happen. The German plane was shot down, so we burst into cheers and waved. The Spitfire came back low over the Putting Green, we waved and the pilot waved back!
The worst thing that happened was the dreaded knock on the front door by a telegram boy, which could occur at any time. This happened to us when mother and I were at the pictures a few weeks after D-Day and the next door neighbour informed us on our return to the house. We phoned up and the telegram was delivered out to us somewhere between 5 and 6pm. It was to tell my mother that my younger brother, who was a bomber pilot, had been shot down over France not long after D-Day. They were bombing the railroads north of Paris.
I also lost my older brother who was in the Royal Navy and was in a submarine in the Aegean Sea.
This was extremely upsetting for both my mother and myself.
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