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I remember my two uncles telling me a story when I was young; they had a habit of going out and cheering themselves up during the war at a pub called The Old Dun Cow near the Old Kent Road.

One night they were there having a drink when it became time to head home. As they half-stumbled their way back they went to cross the Old Kent Road, taking one step on it and suddenly finding themselves up to their necks in water! While they had been at the pub a bomb had been dropped and hit the road creating a massive crater. The explosion also burst a water main under the road and the water that leaked out had filled the crater to the brim, in the dark creating a seemingly smooth surface. The crater was so large and covered the width of the road so that it was almost unnoticeable, especially in the dark and given the state my uncles were in! They pulled themselves out, laughed it off and continued on home. That was the best thing to do at the time when something like that happened, you just tried to shrug it off as best you could, and in this case not consider what would have happened had they been crossing that road earlier on!

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by James Barton and has been added to the website on behalf of Ronald Deamer with his/her permission and they fully understand the site’s terms and conditions.

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