大象传媒

The First Night of the VI鈥檚 鈥� The Doodlebug

My father was the police inspector at Horsham, Sussex, during the war and we lived in a house opposite the police station in Barttlelot Road, Horsham.

I was 11 in 1944, and one night after my parents and I were in bed, there was a loud knock at the door. I heard my father go downstairs and come back, dress and rush out of the house of the police station.

Shortly afterwards he came back and straight upstairs where I heard him speak urgently to my mother 鈥� little pitchers have big ears! 鈥淕et dressed and get Hazel up and go over to the station at once, don鈥檛 ask any questions.鈥� During the war, one cell in the old Victorian police station at Horsham was set aside for wives and children of the police. It was thought the three foot thick walls would give safety during a bombing raid to the families.

I was duly roused and dressed and did as father said. Gradually, more and more wives and children arrived at the cell. As there had not been an air raid siren warning, there were many thoughts on why we were there; the most popular being that it was parachute landmine dropped by the Luftwaffe.

We all stayed in the cell until about 6.00 am when we were allowed home. Later that day, we were told that the then Observer Corps had picked up the first unmanned aircraft and the police informed us of what they had been warned about in the previous months.

Thereafter, we saw many of these weapons in the sky when people would stand and watch them go over and wait for that life threatening silence and subsequent explosion.

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