大象传媒

In late autumn 1940, I was a few weeks off my 7th birthday, living in a crescent in Golders Green, North London with my mother Dorothy: my father, Alexander being away with the Infantry of the Middlesex Regiment. After a heavy night raid, we emerged from the Anderson shelter to go shopping and past many houses damaged by shrapnel and incendiary bombs;families outside calmly clearing up and greeting the postmen and milkmen on their rounds. Life seemed normal except it felt to me like the crescent was shrinking.

An RAF van passed by and announced that a German plane had been brought down during the night and was now on display at the local aerodrome:"Everyone welcome to come along-admission free!". I made a terrific fuss until my mother determined to take me. When we arrived, we saw this beautiful Messchersmitt 110 fighter plane(sometimes called "The Flying Pencil") displaying the Swastika and black crosses parked in a field. A tall RAF officer, with an upper-class accent and ginger handlebar moustache told us that the plane had been caught in the cross beams of searchlights, and apparently in panic, the rear gunner had fired shots into the tail and brought his aircraft down. The two man crew had been taken prisoner, and their flying suits and equipment put on display. Because I was small, I was one of a number of kids who were lifted into the cockpit and shown the controls. It was enormously exciting!

Then the air raid siren went off with it's chilling 'moaning minnie' wail, and the Officer announced very matter-of-factly, something like"Sorry boys and girls, mums and dads, our little friends seem to be back, so get home as quickly as you can."
It was chilling. When we got home, apart from hot shards of shrapnel in the front garden, and slight damage to the roof, our house was still in one place, for which we were truly thankful!

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Katherine Shannon of Canterbury Christ Church University, on behalf of Michael Shannon, and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Shannon fully understand's the site's terms and conditions.

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