- Contributed by听
- ron spencer
- People in story:听
- Ronald .E.Spencer ,Freda Spencer
- Location of story:听
- Bishops Waltham Hampshire
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A6096251
- Contributed on:听
- 11 October 2005
One night in 1943 the "jerries" were bombing Portsmouth,Southhampton,and Eastleigh all on the same night.We lived on a 4 acre small holding with two 100 foot long greenhouses almost adjoining the house which must have shown up from the air.All hell was let loose that night as the guns were driving the "jerries" inland and they were off loading their bombs indiscriminatley. my father was fire watching from the church tower one mile away, leaving mother and I plus grandad who was a very fit 80 year old and tended the small holding on his own, "to man the fort".
When the siren sounded mother shouted to grandad to get up as there was a raid on, grandad replied "bu**er the jerries" got up and went and sat on the hot pipes in the greenhouse, no amount of persuasion would move him. Mother was claustrophobic and although we had a reinforced cellar she would not go in ( what a family), but grabbed an eiderdown and me and went to the family two holer ( known as the dunican) at the bottom of the garden. There we sat staring out of the small window in the door.
We heard the drone of a plane which I recognised as a Junkers 88. It was suddenly illuminated by three searchlights and the guns openened up streams of coloured tracer flashed accross the sky, but the plane zig-zagged and got out of the lights.
My thoughts were,well if anything happens now and we get a near miss we shall be well and truly "in the S**T.
We lived to fight another day thank God.
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