大象传媒

Early 1940. I was at the tender age of fourteen, when, a string of bombs dropped over the area of Kensington in London where I lived with my Mum and Dad.
The last ones exploded about twenty five yards from our house. Our thick blackout curtains saved us from cuts. The air raid warning siren was late in warning us.
1944. Summer Aged 18
Drill training on the Barrack Square at the Coldstream Guards depot. We heard the terrible drone of the V.I Doodlebugs (self-propelled flying bombs) on their way to London. The troops were ordered into the trenches. We could watch the spitfire aircraft following and trying to shoot them down before reaching their targets. Just after the war in Europe finished I was posted to the War Graves Commission in Germany. I was attached to the Graves Registration unit. We had to find the location of the bodies of allied airmen who were shot down during air raids during the early 1940鈥檚. The locals were very helpful we were able to recover bodies and identify them by arm flashes and buttons. The bodies were skeletal. This information was passed over to the Graves Concentration Unit. This Unit transferred the bodies to a cemetery construction unit. But by this time there was a Cemetery Files list. All allied troops killed after 鈥淒鈥� day were given proper graves and relatives were informed.

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