大象传媒

It was the year 1941,I was 11 years old With my brother who was 9 years old and my cousin who was 6.We were coming home from school,the time about3.30 When the air raid sirens started.We were living in longbridge by the Austin motor works.Me being the oldest and in charge decided to find an air raid shelter. we could see the German bombers shooting down the barrage baloons the sond of the machine guns ringing in our ears.having found a shelter at the top of Grovely Lane, we descended down to await the all clear. there was no one else in the shelter and we just waited. getting curious after about 20 mins I told my companions to stay while I acsended the steps to see what was happening. reaching the top of the step I could see a number of german planes and the austin motor works on longbridge lane in the distance. Suddenly,I saw a stick of bombs being released from one of the bombers,from where I stood it looked as if they were going to the large chimney that dominated the sky line of the area. I stood there fascinated watching the bombs fall.When the exploded, I was caught in the blast,and blown down the steps to the bottom of the shelter. I was not hurt too much, no bones broken, but scared-and excited by the experience.That stick of bombs killed as I remember 32 women who were working in the fabric shop of the factory,making seat covers,it seems that when the sirens went,they carried on working. There were other dylight raids, but that one sticks in my memory. THe night raids were more scary, we could hear the planes with the typical droning sound that the German planes made, so we always knew if it was "one of ours" or not.

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