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Throughout her life my Great Grandmother Lucy Matson (Nee Hills) kept a diary. Unfortunately the early part is lost but the section from 1939 until her death in 1965 is kept at Dover Museum.
Lucy was born in 1871 and married William Matson. They had a daughter, Julie, who married John Searles and they had two daughters, Josephine (1921) and Jacqueline (1923).

Throughout the second world war the family lived in Dover and the diary recounts such diverse events as air raids, shelling, the return of men from Dunkirk, Doodlebugs (V1 Flying bombs) and everyday life such as going to the cinema, playing whist (card game) and the marriages of Josephine and Jacqueline and the births of their children (Lionel) and (Roger - myself) respectively.
Lucy also visited Coventry and Kenilworth in 1940/41 and her diary records some of the events there.
Lucy had been a band leader before WW2 and at the outbreak of war she was teaching piano both at pupils' houses and at her daughters' flat in the Metrople Building in central Dover. Her son-in-law (William) was a commercial artist with his studio in the Metropole and there is a feature about him and his work, on such items as cinema advertising, published in "The Illustrated London News" in the 1930s. Her music teaching system was patented and later sold commercially through such outlets as Woolworths.

Julie was a trained nurse and joined the WRNS serving in the Naval Command Centre under Dover Castle. There she became friends with a serviceman named Debroy Summers who was the Dublin born band leader (after the war he emmigrated to Canada). She also worked at Captain Dawsons' residence in Waterloo Crescent (Dover Seafront), the Lord Warden Hotel - HMS Wasp (where one of her collegues was a WREN dispatch rider a daughter [Sylvia?] of the author J.B.Priestley) and other various locations in Dover. Later she worked at Strategic Command Headquarters Allied Forces Europe (SCHAFE) in Fontainbleu. A photograph of Julie can be seen at my entry "HMS Wasp, Dover. Photograph".

Josephine also joined the WRNS and served at Dover Castle. She met and married a Petty Officer (John Salter).

At the outbreak of war Jacqueline was making hand-made chocolates and cakes serving in a confectionary shop in Dover Market Square owned by a Mr Braun (who was Swiss and interred). She became friends with a sailor customer, Bill Berryfield who was serving on the Destroyer HMS Borealis (Number 1107?). However war dealt them a heavy blow as Bills' ship was blown up in the harbour and Bill suffered substantial burns, including serious facial damage from which he never recovered.
Jacquline then joined the Land Army and worked at the village of Shepherdswell where duties were rearing and plucking chickens, although the better part was waving to the passing troops on the trains heading for Dover.
As soon as she was old enough she joined the RAF (service number LAW 2011779) serving at Lossiemouth in Scotland on a Bomber Command base and later in Medmenham near Marlow in Buckinghamshire where she worked processing Air Reconnaissance photos including those from the famous Dam Busters raid.
She recalls how, on leave home, the people in Dover had become accustomed to the daily shelling and bombing.
She would have lunch in "Iggleston and Graves" restaurant on the corner of Market Square and Castle Street when shelling would suddenly start. People carried on with their meals.
At the cinema a notice would appear on the screen saying that the sirens had gone off and giving directions to the shelter. Most though stayed to carry on watching the film.
At the Town Hall there were regular dances where there were plenty of sailors and other service men to make it a popular venue for the local girls. Here as well the sirens would go but the dancing would carry on.
In Snargate Street the music hall "The Hippodrome" carried on with its' shows and there were also plenty of Pubs that stayed open throughout the war and who did a continuous trade throughout the attacks.
Jacqueline hated the thought of being buried, possibly alive, in an air raid shelter.
The main shelter in the town was in Pencester Gardens under a childrens' playground. Having seen the deep claustrophobic and damp interior she had her own way of seeking cover if she was out. When the sirens went or shelling started - she would go into a telephone box. The logic being that it was a much smaller target to be hit! If there was no telephone box near, then sheltering under a tree or hiding in an alley would do!
She married a Naval Chief Petty Officer ("Jack" Hurst) who was a gunnery instructor on the Motor Torpedo Boats/Motor Gun Boats at Dover. These MTBs/MGBs were stationed in the Submarine Pens, the last of which was demolished in the 1990s to extend the ferry births at Dover Eastern Docks.
One of the wrens who worked on the MTBs clearing damage was Belinda Playdell Bouverie. She was often the subject of friendly jokes from the sailors, as she came from a very "posh" family - the Bouveries who owned large estates in Folkestone.
Jacqueline remembers the later days of the war when her and Jack would watch from the bedroom window at night as the eery pulsating singing noise of the "Doodlebugs" (V1) filled the air.
They flew slowly with a long flame behind them. When the noise stopped the watchers waited for the explosion. The V1s usually came in small groups of about 6.
"Jack" served at various bases, including Sheerness and Chatham, and on ships including the cruiser HMS Cleopatra. He travelled through the Suez Canal on the Cleopatra to serve at the Naval bases in Columbo/Trincamalee Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where he was engaged on gunnery instruction and submarine maintenance from submarine mother ships .

I also remember some anacdotes which I have been told by my family:-

Both Julie and Jacqueline were on the quayside tearing up sheets to treat the wounded as they came back from Dunkirk.

The long queue for the Plaza cinema (in the Metropole building) which was hit by a shell and in which many were killed.

A shell that landed in the Market Square and also killed many.

Going to the seafront and to the cliffs to watch the dogfights (aircraft) in the air over the channel. The vapour trails could clearly be seen against the blue sky and the parachutes of air crew who had bailed out could be seen drifting down to the sea.
People would cheer if they saw a German aircraft downed.

Another spectator event, after people had become accustomed to the shelling, was to go to the seafront and watch for the flashes from the German guns. You could then count (I think to four) before the shell would explode somewhere! As shellfire was deliberately random and therefore at any time and in any number it was impossible to rely on any warnings so people became resigned to it.

My family lived for a while in a flat in Harold Terrace where they would often hide under the kitchen table when shelling started. That area of town was in direct line of the German guns and they managed to find somewhere else (Farthingloe Road) which lay behind the hills. The day after they moved the house in Harold Terrace took a direct hit and was demolished. I often remember passing the bomb site as a child and seeing the purple flowers of the Budlia bushes growing from the rubble.

Julie recalled going to the Lord Warden Hotel (HMS Wasp) situated near Dover Marine Station adjacent to the docks and taking part in the preparations for a special meal for officers in the dining room there. She left when the preparations had been made and the tables all laid etc. A while later the hotel took a direct hit. She rushed back and ran in fearing the sight of major carnage. The walls were spattered with red but there was no sign of any wounded or bodies. It turned out the men had not yet arrived and the red was ketchup!

The buses contined to run, a fact that The East Kent Road Car Co. was proud of, but unfortunately they often had to drive quickly to a sheltered spot if attacked!
On the routes between Dover and Folkestone, Dover and Deal and Dover and Sandwich the military was worried about spies and so the upper decks were covered by boards so people could not see out to where the shore batteries and other military installations were. As buses were destroyed many of them were replaced with "Utility" models, still a double-decker but with a basic construction to wartime standards. Many of these continued to be in use after the war.

In Pencester Gardens a large "temporary" building was erected to provide hot food for those who had lost everything. You were given a ticket and could queue up for a hot dinner for about 2 shillings.

Many of the troops in Dover came from Canada and Poland. The Canadians manned the shore batteries on the Western Heights (amongst others) and my family became friendly with a number of them.

Very fondly remembered were the Polish who were infamous for their drinking and incredible sense of humour. Both "Jack" and Jacquline looked back to their wedding day which was celebrated by a riotous party led by the Poles. Lucy, of course, providing the piano music! As Dover was Front Line no photographs were permitted, only a formal studio picture taken later.

As Dover was considered to be Front Line, all travel in and out was checked and only those authorised were allowed into the Dover area. This had one very important benefit to both the civilian personnel who were there, the allocation of BEER and SPIRITS was based on the pre-war population and therefore there was no worry of the pubs running dry!

When "Jack" was working on the MTBs he told me that one of the Captains was Peter Scott who was famous for his knowledge and pictures of birds. Apparently he had drawn some remarkable pictures on his cabin walls.

Later during the war the Western entrance to Dover Harbour was blocked by means of sinking some old ships in the gap between the Breakwater and the Western Arm. This became necessary because the German E-Boats (fast Motor Torpedo Boats) took to rushing in to the Harbour through one entrance, firing at whatever they could, and then rushing of through the other entrance!

As a footnote my daughter Lucy Hurst (born 1976) was named after my great - grandmother as a tribute to her memory.

The address for Dover Museum is Market Square, Dover, Kent. CT16 1PB. It is operated by Dover District Council. They have a website ^{About links} and can be contacted by their e-mail address -: museumenquiries@dover.gov.uk

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