- Contributed by听
- SezJane
- People in story:听
- Rosemary Bevan
- Location of story:听
- Kent
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A4367892
- Contributed on:听
- 05 July 2005
As told to Sarah, aged 7:
I remember very well the first night that Hitler sent his Doodlebugs over to bomb England. I was eight years old. The siren sounded during the night and as usual we jumped out of bed ready to go down the shelter. I was standing by the door waiting for my mother when suddenly there was a horrible noise, not at all like the usual drone of planes that we were all used to. I looked up into the sky and caught sight of this strange machine flying low over the houses and from the back of it was a huge flame. We hadn't any idea what this strange object could be but my mother decided we should spend the rest of the night in the shelter. The next day we didn't go to school but my friend and I stood on the top of the Andersen shelter with tin helmets on looking for more of these mysterious objects. We got used to the Doodlebugs and soon realised that we were reasonably safe all the time the engines were running but as soon as they stopped we knew we must run for cover, because then they would fall to the ground, cause a huge explosion followed by destruction and sometimes death. We soon returned to school, although our lessons were often interrupted by frequent visits to the shelters. The official name for these "Doodlebugs" was the V1s but some people called them "Buzz Bombs".
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