大象传媒

One lovely August morning in 1941 ,I was travelling by the Picadilly line to my work in Clerkenwell.I helped to run a factory making Asdic gears for submarines.
There was an air-raid warning and we were all turned off the train.I climbed the spiral staircase to the surface.I was the last out andIlooked around the London square for people ,but it was deserted and silent.I heard leaves rustling in the plane trees and the birds singing.
The ARP wardens had done a good job and all was closed and shuttered.I could see no 'AIR-RAID SHELTER' sign and huddled in a recessed doorway.The silence was uncanny - then I heard the drone of plane engines. I peered up at the clear blue sky and saw a flight of Nazi bombers high above, the noise was deafening ,but they passed over me on their way to maim and destroy.
Then again -the rustle of leaves and bird song.
When the 'All clear'sounded I hurried down to the underground and eventually a train arrived and I continued my journey.
I wondered how many years it had been since a London square had been so silent except for nature's sounds!A shudder went through me as I realised that had those bombs dropped on that square, no-one would ever know what had happened to me.

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