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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer from Radio Derby on behalf of Mr Bleathman and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr Bleathman fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was a lad of 14 years, when one morning during the Battle of Britain, I was standing in the back garden of our family home at Gatwick in London, very close to both the Airport and an Army Camp, when a German bomber flew over just a few hundred feet in the air in a direct line over the family home and in line with the army camp. Very close behind was a Spitfire, which was firing at the bomber. One bullet missed the bomber and was coming directly towards me. I could see what was going to happen and ran indoors as fast as I could, shutting the back door behind me. As I stood behind the back door a bullet came through the window right by the side of door and about 12 inches above me, embedding itself in the wall opposite. After a few minutes when all was quite I ventured outside to find two further bullets embedded in the back door right where I had been standing. A few days later another German Bomber flew over our house, again very low, firing machine guns at the Army Camp. I was not injured in either event but, never the less, I found these events very scary indeed.

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