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I lived in London Road in 1939. One day we were taken from home to be evacuated. At 5 o clock in the morning we were taken to Quarry Hill School. My brother got his meat delivery bike with a big basket on and put our cases in there. He took them to the School for us. Mum and Dad came along as well as my two brothers and one sister. I remember that when we got to the school a girl got her head stuck in some railings. Whether she got out or not I still don’t know!

Things went on from there. We were all put on buses and taken to Tilbury Riverside — the landing stage. This was where we boarded the Royal Eagle and also the Crescent Eagle. We were taken to Lowestoft. On route war was declared in the time we were going from Tilbury to Lowestoft.

For some reason someone decided to throw tables and chairs off the paddle steamer we were told this was to lighten the ship but whether that was a ‘rip’ or not I don’t know!

When we got to Lowestoft we were all put into a cinema, it was the Odeon. We were given straw, a mattress and a package of food. We slept the night there. The next day we were taken out and round to different houses and farms. I, my sister and younger brother ended up on a farm. We stopped there for about 6 to 9 months. At that time it was classed as the Phony War — nothing happened at all. Then because nothing had happened my mum brought us all back to Grays.

Then a little while later when war really did start badly, bombs were dropping all around. The area we lived in was getting quite bad and so we were taken to Devises in Wiltshire. I don’t remember much about that. We were brought back home again when I was about 12 or 13.

Round Grays there was quite a lot of activity of bombing. I remember being in an air raid shelter one night, this was an Anderson Shelter in the garden of our house in London Road. I heard a noise coming over and so we rushed out of the shelter and looked over the top of us. There was a German bomber and we could see one of the crew. His parachute was caught on the plane and we could see his body hanging on it. This happened near Belmont Castle at the top of Meesons Lane.

Every garden had an air raid shelter — the Anderson shelter. There was always something going on, bombing of something. There were two gas holders near us as well along London Road and they are still there now. We would always see the shrapnel hitting them as well. It was quite frightening for a child to be there.

Another incident was in the Ritz Cinema in Grays, it is a bingo hall now. We were in there and a bomb dropped just behind the building — that was quite frightening as well. I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast to get out of that cinema to get home. I was about 12 or 13 then.

I also saw Tilbury Hotel on fire at the beginning of the war. I also saw the Esso Works in Purfleet when it was on fire for a few days.

Living so near to the Thames we could see all the planes coming over to bomb us — especially if it was a cloudy day and they would fly low and try to get to London.

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