大象传媒

At a time when the Luftwaffe were approaching (their dy-synchorised engines pulsing) I was carrying a loaf and ignored the air-raid shelter at the corner of Wolseley Road, as my home was only 50 yards away.
Suddenly parts of tiles on the western side of the rooftops made spitting sounds and fragments of tiles were falling onto the pavement. There were whistling sounds overhead and spiteful whistles from the road and pavement. I was confronted by a mixture of sparks and road chippings. Garden hedges were trembling and I gawped in awe at the multitude of fragments, pondering "what on earth was going on?"

I raised my arms to protect my face, but was still showered in road chippings, some of which caused wounds to my left eyebrow, elbows and right leg, all of which started bleeding.
Then there was a rush of air overhead, and a Messerschmitt 109E rushed overhead from North to South along Wolseley Road, skimming the rooftops.

My sister had been sent to check on me and saw me bleeding in several places. She screamed out to my mother 'NORM'S BEEN SHOT, NORM'S BEEN SHOT' at the top of her voice. It was necessary to call the doctor, who used tweezers to remove the fragments that protruded from my skin. He left plasters all over my body, therefore I became 'decorated' as a schoolboy hero, and was popular with the girls at school for some time after - I was the closest thing they could get to a war hero!

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