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This story was submitted to the People's War site by Jenny Christian of the
2nd Air Division Memorial Library on behalf of David Gordon Scrutton and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Norwich Blitz April 1940

Cecil John Scrutton (My Father) age 37
Sybil Elsie Scrutton (My Mother) age 33
John Cecil Scrutton (My Brother) age 8
David Gordon Scrutton (me) age 5

Location — Costessey (Norwich) the address then was 11. Whitehouses, Dereham Road, New Costessey.
Later to be changed to 86 Dereham Road, New Costessey (as it is now)

I can remember being roused from my bed, with my brother, by my parents, the sirens had evidently sounded. I was on my Mothers lap in the dining room with my brother on Dad's lap facing us. We heard the sound of bombs falling which my mother insisted was "Our Guns", perhaps to calm us all. When the morning came it was only too evident that it had been an air-raid, with several craters to be inspected, by us local lads.

At that time we didn't have a shelter, so it was decided to go to Ringland Hills for the next few nights, for safety. I can remember the planes circling overhead and the fires could be seen from where we were. Some days later we were delivered our shelter, it was a "Morrison" which would be erected indoors, much like a large metal table, with metal mesh sides, it was possible to makeup a bed inside. The other make of shelter was known as the "Anderson" which was made of corrugated steel, the would have to be erected in the garden, dug into the earth with soil and turves being laid over the roof for greater safety.

The heaviest raids in Norwich took place in April 1942, were known as the "Baedeker" raids, these however although bad, were not in any way as heavy as the raids on industrial towns. There was even a "Barrage Balloon" sited near us at the Larkman Lane/Dereham Road junction, a real draw for us boys.

The America Air Force arrived later, and B24's "Liberators" were stationed at Horsham St Faiths and I can remember two crashing locally, one on take off near to Folgate Lane, and one crash-landed, on return from a mission, opposite our house, between Dereham Road and Bawburgh Lane. The prize objects the boys could collect were pieces of shrapnel, or aeroplane glass (Perspex), which could be made into rings.

As a young boy during the war, we never seemed to be concerned with the death and destruction all around us, we were perhaps too occupied with new and exciting happenings.

But why were they bombing us?

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