My Blitz

In early 1944 we were beginning to talk about an Allied invasion of Europe and in february of that year the rumours became more specific. There was talk of a meeting between Generals Eisenhower, Montgomery and de Gaulle which was to take place at St Paul's School in Hammersmith - Monty's old school - over the week-end of 19th and 20th of February. The meeting was said to be to discuss plans for what became the Normandy landings.

The war at that stage was going badly for the Germans and they had stopped their air-raids on London. Because of this many evacuees, myself included had returned to their families.

On Sunday, the 20th of February, the Luftwaffe came over in force and bombed West London, Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush, presumably in an attempt to get at the Allied Generals. As the ritual of going to the shelter every night had long been abandoned, many people were caught in their houses when the bombs were dropped.

I had been in bed but my mother decided that we had better go down from our second floor flat to the air-raid shelter as the bombing seemed to be getting nearer. This proved to be life-saving as my bed was completely destroyed by a fallen roof-beam. At about 10.00pm, just as we were getting ready to go downstairs, we both sensed that we were about to be hit. There was no screeching noise as we'd been led to believe. We just looked at each other and then I saw the curtains rise parallel to the floor and I saw red spots, like glowing embers, before my eyes. The next thing I knew I was in darkness, covered in rubble, with my mother bending over me.

I was fully aware of the situation and felt that I was alright, except for a pain on the right side of my head. On investigating I found that blood was pouring out of several deep cuts on that side of my face. My mother, luckily, was able to find a large roll of cotton wool which I pressed to my cheek. The pain was not too bad and I didn't think it was all that serious.

We made our way down the srairs which were covered in rubble and quite difficult to negotiate in the dark. The people in the first floor flat had been away for the week-end but we knew that Edie, our neighbour, was in on the ground floor. The front door was missing and we got no response to our calls so we assumed that she had already gone. Her husband was an air-raid warden and we thought he must have come for her. My mother was very anxious to get help for me, because of all the blood, and so we went out into the street.

Outside in the street every thing was deathly quiet. The dust hadn't settled and it was like a yellowish London fog with a few silent, shadowy figures emerging from it. We heard later that more than fifty people had been killed. An air-raid warden came to help us and he carried me away from the scene. I'd heard how brave Londoners were under these circumstances and so I started to sing "Roll Out the Barrel" - the warden must have thought I'd been brain damaged. As we moved down the street we heard screams and cries fromthe undamaged houses some way from the bomb. This was in sharp contrast to the people who were closest and came out of the rubble in complete and eerie silence.

We were taken to an ARP First Aid Post where we were given some very basic first aid. The cotton wool, which by this time was saturated with bloodwas strapped to my face and a triangular bandage was wrapped around my hand which was also badly cut. The wardens had obviously been told that strong weak tea was the thing for shock and we were given numerous cups of awful tasting tea. There were several other 'walking wounded' and we all sat in shocked silence, hardly a word was spoken during the two hours we were there. Perhaps we were trying to decide whether we'd been lucky or unlucky. I think the wardens were as shocked as we were and had never thought that they would be involved in an emergency.

The all-clear went at about midnight and it was then safe to transfer us to the nearby Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, about a mile away, where a proper First Aid Post had been set up. When I tried to walk I discovered that my right foot was badly cut and my slipper was full of blood. One unfortunate warden was delegated to carry me to the hospital. When we got to the 'Queen of England' puplic house in Go;dhawk Road we found that as well as the buildings on either side of the road the tar on the road was also on fire. A blanket was put over my head and firemen played hoses on the road so that we could get through.

On arrival I got treatment and was bandaged again. A lot more cuts were discovered = on both hands, on my head and on my right leg. I was seen by a Dr Adams who was a kindly grandfatherly man who kept asking me to whistle. He said this was a test to see if the 'aerial of my ear' had been damaged. I don't think I was stitched at this stage but by now the side of my face was completely numb.

At the hospital my mother collapsed. Although she appeared to have only a slight cut on her upper lip, apparently glass had gone right through it and lacerated her tongue at the back. This had bled profusely and I think she only kept going until I was safe.

I spent the whole night talking to a 17 year old Air Raid Warden who sat with me until morning. I remember giving him the benefit of my 'vast knowledge' of astronomy - we'd had a lesson at school the week before. I was convinced that I'd be able to go to school in the morning. I never saw that warden again and he never knew how much he helped me by letting me ramble on for those hours and feigning great interest in my chatter. He helped me through what was probably the worst part of the experience.

In the morning we were transferred to 'King Charles Hospital' in Ladbroke Grove. I was the only child in a mixed ward but I was in the next bed to a neighbour - a Mr Poole.

The following day I was transferred to Harefield Hospital in a converted Green Line coach with four other children. The stretcher I was on was just inside the door and the motion of the coach made me violently sick. However when we were met by the nurses we were made to feel safe and cared for. I was operated on to remove the numerous bits of glass which were still embedded in various parts. After that I spent a most enjoyable two months in the hospital.

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