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I think it was 1942 when this happened. My father was a Squadron Leader in the RAF (65 Squadron), stationed near Dover. As he was head of the Radar Unit, he could see enemy aircraft approaching. He noticed enemy aircraft coming and thought it might be coming our way. So he contacted my grandfather to let him know. The aircraft came over Rottingdean, and three bombs were dropped. One was dropped near the seafront, killing the on duty policeman; the second bomb was dropped on St Aubin’s playing field and it exploded, destroying at least one house. The third bomb fell in our back garden. It lodged itself against the back of the house, up against the dining room window. We had a small shelter in the house that we sheltered under. From there we could see the top of the bomb through the dining room window. I was about 4 years old, and I knew what a bomb was and thought I was going to be killed, but for some reason I wasn’t particularly scared. We sat there waiting for the explosion. However, it never happened. My grandfather contacted the bomb disposal unit, who came out and dismantled it. Inside the bomb they noticed that it had been sabotaged. There was a note inside it saying something along the lines of ‘Not all Germans are bad. We have sabotaged this bomb.’

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