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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Joanne Burgess on behalf of Tim Warham and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."

We were getting ready the things for the shelter when the sirens went. We rushed out with the children. We had five children to look after and I was the eldest. We had just got into the shelter when the guns started and bombs were dropping. We hadn’t any bunks in our shelter, but my Mother had put a bed in and we had just put them in it and put the blankets on them. All of a sudden we heard more bombs coming down and then the wardens told us to duck.

My Mother and I got all our children under the bed, when the mines fell in Regent street. Slates and chimneys were falling and glass and other things. We were all scared and the wardens came to see if we were all right. We said ‘yes thank you’ then it stopped when somebody came and we said ‘come in’ and it was my Aunty.

After the all clear had gone we went to see if our house was all right but when we got outside the shelter we had a shock. All our windows were out and the house full of soot and we could not live in it. So when morning came we went to my Aunty and stayed there for our meals. At night it was a good night we never had the buzzers. We had to go into my Aunty’s shelter because ours was a bit damaged so we had bunks and the children slept all through the next night, but it was not much.

When the mine fell in Bean Street we were in bed. Nobody had knocked us up when the sirens went. All the lights had gone out I had suddenly woken up and seen my mother awake and she gave a yell and I felt real scared and I said ‘What?’ but that was all I could say. The wardens burst the door down and carried us out to the shelter. When they got us there the people gave us some tea and cakes. All of a sudden a bomb fell into the next street and caused a very big fire.

One time we had a little raid with only incendiaries but that was bad enough, but I will never forget the time it fell in Bean Street.

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