大象传媒

I was evacuated to Trottiscliffe in Kent for about three months with my sister at the start of the war. She wanted to go home, so we did. I then sat and passed the 11 plus and started a new school in Eltham. From here I could see and hear the raids on London. Planes flew up the Thames in formation, very little gunfire. It was a lovely day with the sun glistening on the planes. The fires burnt for about three days. The next day the roads were full of vehicles and people leaving London, and crashed fire engines which had presumabley been rushing to help.

From Eltham you could also see bombers raiding places like Biggin Hill.

It was probably about a week later that we heard a plane coming down through the clouds, its engine screaming. Convinced it was a German about to crash, everyone started cheering. When it emerged from the cloud we could see it was a Spitfire. There was a complete and sudden silence as it hit the ground.

In October 1940, I went to South Wales to join the school. I stayed for a year before going home, and then for another two years, going home atthe end of each term. While there I remember Swansea was bombed heavily. The Germans came over the school, there was little anti aircraft fire.

We were then joined by evacuees from Swansea which led to more disagreements between the different groups and gangs.

It was a good time in Wales as you always had friends around. I must admit though that I did miss the war over Kent.

Occasionaly the school was addressed by old boys who came back as heros. I remember one in particular; a Mosquito pilot who had taken part in a raid over Holland. Some of them had been at the school during my time, and others even came back with medals on!

I finally got back to Kent in 1943, when it was felt that the war had turned and it was now safe to go back. Around Christmas there was a "mini blitz" during which quite a lot of damage was done. The bombs seemed to be a lot bigger, but there might just have been more of them!

Then around June 44 the V1s started. Quite spectacular at night as the jet engine created a flame coming out of the back. Coupled with the noise, and a low altitude, they could be quite spectacular. you just hoped they kept going. The first time I saw them was at night and I mentioned to my dad that they must be bringing a lot down tonight as I assumed they were flaming aircraft. He just grunted.

I think it was about September when the V2s started arriving. No warning, just a sudden tremendous bang. One particular incident I recall, I think at Depford, when a queue was hit outside a shop.

It was around that time that I joined the school Air Training Corps. It included going to camp at an operational RAF station at Odiham near Basingstoke. This was very exciting as we could see planes with the number of kills marked on the side. The Group Captain came to talk to us. When he came in we were doing aircraft recognition. He stressed the importance, as he spoke of what would now be called "friendly fire". We found this staggering.

In hindsight I can see the amount of propoganda we were subjected to. I have spoken to people of my age from Germany including one lad from Hamburg who had been on anti aircraft guns. He was woken every night for three years by nuisance raids.

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