大象传媒

I lived at Ruislip in Middlesex at 3 Torcross Road. It was very close to Northolt Airport (the Polish War Memorial is there.) I was eight and it was 1939. My father was away in the Royal Navy and I had two brothers. My mother, two brothers and I were living together. Because of the vicinity of the Airport which was a base for RAF Fighters, we were in a vulnerable area. I didn't have to say anything on the matter really!
Basically, in the garden we used to have an Anderson Shelter; as soon as the siren went we would get in the shelter at my mother's insistance. You'd be asleep in bed, it was a pain to get out of bed and go out into the garden.

On this particular night we went into the shelter. We got up in the morning and our house was gone along with several others. It was weird; bizarre. Opposite our house was a chap who had a motorbike and a side car which was hanging out of the third floor window. The bath was hanging by its pipes. There was a hell of a lot of dust. My mother tried to find some bits and pieces out of the wreckage but she didn't find much. We found out later that it was a landmine that had hit the house. It had come down by parachute.

I was frightened but relieved. We heard bangs in the night but we didn't know it was our house.

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Helena Noifeld of 大象传媒 Radio Kent and has been added to the website on behalf of John Hearn with his permission. He fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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