大象传媒

Mrs E B Hawkins has confirmed her willingness to have her story entered on to the People's War website and has agreed to abide by the House Rules.

My home town is Weymouth. As it was so close to France, on a clear day guns could be heard and flashes seen over the water when the Germans had landed there.

I saw the bouncing bombs being tested off Portland.

I can hear so clearly the screams of the people who were bombed, from the houses at the back of us who were killed, and see my bedroom ceiling caved in, and our house full of plaster with all the doors flat on the floor.

I was conscripted at 18 like everyone else. I went to work at the Whiteheads torpedo works for 5 years and was very happy there.

One Sunday afternoon at around 2 p.m. I had left my home to meet friends on the way to the "Young People's" Fellowship from our church.

I was 17 awaiting the call-up months. On the corner of the road was a shop then, over the top, I suddenly saw a plane almost on the roof, then as he came even lower I saw the sign of the swastica on the tail. "This is it then" I thought, "I shall never marry now and have my two boys, but I won't run away!. I stood firm looking at him. "Lord Jesus, please come" I said and with that he turned the plane and I saw him very clearly looking down at me. He turned toward the town and sea, machine gunning all the way along the main Abbotsbury Road where I lived. I rushed back indoors to tell my mother. "My goodness, they haven't landed have they" she said, invasion was always uppermost, being that Weymouth was right on the coastline.

I did marry and had my two sons. My grandchildren know of the day that Gran came face to face with the German fighter pilot, at 17 years old, and stood her ground.

I must mention our beautiful black cat, Ruff, who never made a mistake when he heard a German plane. He rushed into our shelter, then my mother would call over the fence, "Mrs Condon, Ruff has gone to the shelter". We would be in there before the siren went. He died aged 21 my childhood friend, whom I will never forget.

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