大象传媒

My mother was born in Beaconsfield on 11th November 1932, and lived in Seer Green, on the NW edge of London.

My mother lived in Hogewood Drive I think and her mother was Edith Dora Tripp and father was Edwin William Slade. Mums brother is Ted and her sisters are Doreen(RIP) and Pam.

Mother started to relate stories about the war to my brother Clarence Joseph and me Mark Joseph, after I commented on the damage repairs being carried out to St Pauls Cathedral in the 1970,s as we drove past.

She aften talks about the rumbling noise and the glowing sky coming from the direction of London. Also, how the local Romany people taught her father eat Hedgehogs. You wrap them in clay and bake them (I do hope they were dead at this stage, especially me being a veggie) You peal off the clay, which also removes the spines!

I recall my mother talking about endless doodlebugs flying over the house. One landed not so far away that they felt the house rock! This developed my own interest in the civilian side of the war and I became an avid learner about this period.

On investigation, I wondered how my mother could have seen so many doodlebugs when she was to the west on London and they were being very acurately aimed at central London, from the low countries.

In my studies I found that the UK government wanted to spare the East end further damage from the blitz of earlier in the war.

The decision was made that the press were only allowed to report the doodblebugs that landed from the coast up to central London (no strikes were reported to the West of London)

The Germans got hold of this false information (as planned) and, believeing they had under estimated their calulations, they extended the range. Most subsequent bombs flew over East and Central London.

This is why my mother saw so many doodblebugs flying overhead in her part of the the South East.
Ironically this action put my mothers life at much greater risk, but a very understandable and clever use of propaganda and espionage.

My mother also commented that later on, she would see the occasional flash from the direction of London. Soon after there would be a very deep and loud bang. I think these would have been the V2 rockets hitting London.

My mohter said that if she was half way to school and the siren sounded, she had to continue to school and use the trench. If she was less than half way, she would return home. My mother would, in any case, always go home, even if she reached the school gates. She would watch the dog fights from her back or front garden.

The siren was in the playground of her school. It was still there up until the last of the sirens were removed (for cost reasons) in the mid 1990's I did write to the coucil for Seer Green to ask if I could have it, as that would have been the perfect personal gift to pass on to my family, a piece of living history. At the very least I asked them to preserve it. The council never responded to my letter and I believe it was destroyed.

I have an Air raid siren from elsewhere kept safe and quiet. I hope the government (who gave me permission to have it) never need to ask for it back

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