大象传媒

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When the Second World War started, I was 4-1/2 years old and lived with my mother, father and 2 brothers in Ingrave Street, Battersea (near Clapham Junction Station). Our house was the typical Victorian slum terrace with no bathroom, hot water and an outside lavatory.
Shortly after the war started a brick shelter was erected in our back yard, which we used all through the war. Apart from being evacuated to outside Bracknell for about 15 months from late 1940, I spent the war in Battersea, London.
I can remember some terrible night bombing raids and living near 鈥淭HE JUNCTION鈥� (which was a prime target for the Germans) the whole area was very heavily bombed and many streets and houses destroyed. Incredibly, I believe Clapham Junction was hit only once by a light bomb on the east platform, which caused minor damage, although all around was devastated. Even later when the V1鈥檚 and V2鈥檚 were launched the station had some near misses.
I vividly remember seeing a V1 which at the time seemed to be coming straight at our house. It was a summer day in 1944 and I had come home from school to have dinner with my mum. We had finished the meal and mum was doing my hair and getting me ready to go back to school. I recall saying to her, 鈥淢um, there鈥檚 one of those things coming.鈥� We both listened and at that moment, the engine stopped. My mum said, 鈥淨uick, into the shelter鈥� and as we went out the back door towards the shelter, the bomb was already gliding towards us and as we got into the shelter, we could hear the wind rushing through the wings, as it passed over us. About a minute later there was an enormous explosion, which shook our shelter - we thought it had landed about 2 houses away. When we came out of the shelter there was a huge column of black smoke which seemed to be from the end of the street. It transpired however that it had landed on Price鈥檚 Candle Factory in York Road and must have glided over all the back yards in Ingrave Street to land there. I believe some people were killed in the factory and Ingrave Street was filled with fire engines and ambulances racing to the scene.
I remember my mum saying to me 鈥淵ou are not going back to school today!鈥�

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