大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Tanya Proudlove from Lancshomeguard on behalf of Ure Jones and has permission.

In 1940 I was 16 years old. I voluteered to work at the YMCA in Enfield. Somewhere on the edge of Enfield the Scots Guards were barracked and udergoing 6 weeks training. We would hold whist drives and dances and the soldiers moved on after completing their training. So every 6 weeks we had new dance partners.

In 1939 when I was 15, we moved house across Enfield. We realised our dog was missing. I was allowed to go and look for him (Ben) but my mother insisted I wear a saucepan on my head as protection against German bombs! I went on my cycle back to the old house, wearing my saucepan. I found Ben and took him to the new house.

I remember going on to Widmill Hill outside Enfield to watch the dogfights in the sky above. I don't remember seeing a plane shot down but recall the chases and the machine gun fire.

The worst things, the most frightening things, were the doodlebugs - V1s. I remember the first time I heard the noise and the silence when the engines stopped and the bombs fell. I was more worried by the V1s than anything. The uncertainty. You could see them in the sky with flames coming out of the back, a horrible flying bomb. Bombs were supposed to come out of planes, these didn't and that's what made them frightening.

Even with all the bombing you still went up to London, to the theatre. Life went on despite the Germans. I never got caught in an air raid in London. However I went to a dance at a gunsite near Enfield and suddenly there was an air raid. The sky was full of planes. I was very frightened. I was on my way walking to the dance, I was alone and very frightened. I ran up to a house and banged on the door and they took me in. I stayed there until the air raid was over. I never did get to the dance!

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