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I lived just outside London when Chamberlain announced that we were ‘now at war’. Almost immediately the sirens went off and, of course, none had been issued with Gas Masks. Wardens were frantically running around. All through that night false alarms were sounding and so everyone took for shelter. We slept in the shelter every night as sirens kept going off; it saved us from keep going to bed only to be awoken again and having to go to the shelter.

One night I saw a ‘flying bomb’ which were very frightening. It was a V1 that had been shot. I heard the engines stop so I dropped my bicycle and ran for cover under a hedgerow! On another occasion I saw fighter pilots swooping pass enemy aircraft to try and keep them away. They had flown over the Kent Coast. There was an explosion and then seconds after I heard a rushing noise. We were told this was due to gas mains blowing up but later we found out it was actually a V2 rocket.

During the War, I hated being inside. I worked for Vickers Armstrong factory which was eventually bombed. We were relocated to various sites and I was based in a hut under some large trees, I didn’t like it so I tried to get out as much as possible and pretent I had to take something somewhere!

I had the chance to be evacuated to either Canada or Australia. My Mum asked my brother and I if we would like to go. My brother didn’t want to but I said yes. My brother ended up staying with some friends in Scotland. I passed the medical test and was waiting for the shipping date, when the Athenia ship carrying numerous children to Canada was sunk. My Mum told me after this disaster that I wasn’t allowed to go.

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