ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

When Wally and Glad Attwood, friends of my parents, were bombed out of their semi-detached house on the seafront at Bexhill, my parents were asked to look after their budgerigar while they went into temporary accommodation.

The bird was called Samson and was a great mimic of the main entertainment of the day which, of course, was the radio. He picked up many different phrases from regular broadcasts. This cheerful little bird came to our bungalow in Hastings and my mother decided that the best place for him to be would be the windowsill where the window could be open to give him the maximum fresh air.

One morning, a doodlebug (V1 flying bomb) was shot down by two Spitfires trying to catch it before it could reach London and the blast from the explosion when it fell in Alexandra Park blew out the windows in our hall and shattered the glass centre light. My sister and I at the ages of 7 and 4, were crying and terrified.

My mother, ever the strong one in the family, called us to the front room which was covered in glass and debris. In the middle of the floor lay Samson's cage which had been blown off the window sill,
with him cheerfully perched in his depleted home, calling out stoically 'ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and Forces Programme.'

As children we soon lost our fear and thought that we could survive as well.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.