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This story was submitted to the People’s War Site by Three Counties Action, on behalf of Andrew Sinclair, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

It was in September 1939 that Britain declared war on Germany because of her occupation of Poland after annexing other European countries.

German submarines (U-boats) were sinking ships bringing food to Britain.

Germany invaded Denmark and Norway after having occupied Holland and Belgium. At the beginning of June 1940, 338,000 British and French troops were miraculously evacuated from Europe at Dunkirk when every small craft that was available went across the Channel to evacuate the troops.

On the 14 June 1940 the German army marched into France and the German flag was hoisted on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. An aerial bombardment of Britain was unleashed with London as a prime target.

Shipping in the English Channel was especially vulnerable to the bombs of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) despite having escaped the submarines (U Boats) and almost reached their destination.

It was in 1940 that the Battle of Britain was fought as German bombers mounted daylight raids on London.

Londoners with gardens attached to their houses were issued with Anderson air raid shelters sunk into their gardens for the families to take refuge in whenever an air raid siren sounded. The sirens sounded a wailing note when a raid was imminent and when danger had passed they then sounded the ‘all clear’, which was a continuous higher note.

It was during one of these raids that my family was bombed out. We lived in a three storey detached house at 21 Gilmore Road, Lewisham, London, S.E.13. My father was at work but the rest of us were at the top of the stairs leading down to the cellar. The bomb completely demolished number 19 killing the sole occupant who was sheltering in her cellar. It demolished most of our house except for the top of the cellar and exit to the back of the house, thus we were miraculously preserved.

Another of the stick of bombs hit the electricity showroom in Lewisham High Street and showered electricity bills over all the surrounding roads, houses and gardens.
When the neighbours at number 23 saw all five of us walk out of the pile of rubble they were absolutely amazed.
My father came home from work only to find his home had disappeared and we were homeless.

The emergency services directed us to Kilmorie Road School in Forest Hill London S.E.23 for temporary refuge. We spent the night there and a few subsequent nights. We ‘slept’ on the floor with sandbags for pillows and enjoyed or endured the most frugal of existences.

Fortuitously, a member of our church who had been evacuated to Llandudno with his work, heard of our plight and let us stay in his London home until we found alternative accommodation.

The Battle of Britain continued and our brave fighter pilots shot down so many German aircraft that they stopped daylight raids and reverted to night raids.

For several months Britain stood alone against the might of Germany with only the courage of its servicemen and civilians to withstand the might of the German war machine. Daily there was the fear that German troops would land on British soil.

The tide began to turn 1941 but when the U.S.A joined the war upon being attacked by Japan, but it took until 1945 until World War Two was over.

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