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During the second world war, there were many air raids on the docks at Grimsby. When my father was 9 years old, in 1942/43, he lived with his grand-parents at Boweres Avenue, Keddington Road, Louth. He often saw aircraft flying overhead, both German and British.
As he was returning home from school one day, he heard the sound ao an aircraft approching. As most children in those days, he was able to identify most aircraft by the sound of its engine, so he knew this was a German plane. As he looked up, he saw a Messerschmitt coming towards him, and as it closed in, it opened fire. My father dived behind the garden wall and hid. The bullets hit the house across the garden, shattering the roof and causing a great deal of damage. The Messerschmitt then began to climb up into the air again. Almost immediatly, my father saw a Spitfire approaching from Mamby Aerodrome and as he watched a small dog-fight began. The Spitfire shot the Messerschmitt down and it crashed in a nearby field. A short time later the army arrived to guard it. It was reported that the pilot of the Messerschmitt had been killed.
My father realises that he was lucky not to have been killed himself and to this day he says that he saw more action whilst living in Louth than he did when he lived in Slogh.

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