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I was four when war broke out. I remember being very cold when having to get out of a warm bed. My sister used to put us smaller ones into big coats and then we sat on benches in the shelter. It was very cold and there was lots of condensation. Dad wouldn’t go — he had been in the trenches in WW1! There was only one bomb — at the end of our garden.

Mum worked in hospital and sisters brought us children up. My father was a carpenter and he was gassed in WW1. He worked at Shell and one day brought a snake home to show his sons. They shot snakes as didn’t want them to get loose.

I went to Horndon Hall. The headmaster (Mr. Hall) took the children to a shelter — we had to march to the shelter which was brick and above ground. We had to close our eyes, count to 10 and play charades.

A bomb landed at Gores Farm. My brothers wanted to collect shrapnel as shrapnel was a ‘prize’. A bit came through our kitchen window.

A plane crashed in Orsett Road in Horndon. My brother was first on the scene (the pilot was in bits) and a local policeman stood guard.

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