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It was a cold and misty night back in November 1941. We had been in the air raid shelter for hours; the Germans were very punctual. They came over at 7pm and were usually gone by 2am. So it was that on this night my father said, “they have gone — the All Clear will go in a bit. Let’s go down and have a cup of tea in the house”. Famous last words.

We were all standing around the table with our cups raised to our lips when the bomb dropped just across the road. There was a terrific thumping sound and the house shook. Strings of dust came down from the ceiling. As if photographed on my brain, I can still see it today. In any case, we must have been the first to break the four minute mile back up the garden to the shelter. It was then that the All Clear sounded.

Next day I went on the hunt for shrapnel, the crater was full of kids. I was always a bit of a joker in those days, I still am I suppose. I spotted a round hole next to the crater, about six inches across. Just like someone had pushed a scaffold pole into the ground. Automatically I lay down with my ear to the hole and shouted “I can hear it ticking”. I couldn’t of course but this old woman walking by at the time went mad at me. “Careless talk costs lives” she parroted. So I went home.

Anyway, the next day we were evacuated. The bomb disposal boys tackled the bomb that was down the hole after all. I still don’t know whether I was lucky or unlucky that day — what if there had been a shorter delayed-action fuse on that bomb?

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Joanne Brown a volunteer with WM CSV Actiondesk on behalf of Kenneth Foley and has been added to the site with his permission. Kenneth Foley fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

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