Acton Town

This was written by my Uncle Eric, who lived in Whitton, to help my daughter with her primary school history project. He was a prisoner of war but rarely talked about the shocking events he must have experienced. Sadly, he died last year.

"When the second war started I was at work at Acton Town Depot (Sunday morning), 3rd September 1939. The air raid siren started about 11 am - this was a false alarm.

Prior to the start of the war, the children of London, or most of them, were sent to a place of safety. I saw a lot of these coming from the London area in District Line trains on their way to Ealing Broadway where they were sent by Main Line trains westwards out of danger.

I joined the Army on Thursday, 14th November 1940 at Shoeburyness near Southend. On the Monday, 11th November, I had to go to the main offices at 55 Broadway to sign papers. When I arrived at Hounslow West, which was my nearest station, I saw a notice which said "South Kensington only". The station at Sloane Square had been bombed on Sunday night, 10th November. When I arrived at South Kensington I boarded a bus to finish my journey. We passed the ruins of Sloane Square station. It was shocking: smoke still coming up from the station. People were killed. How many I don't know.

After a week in the Army, we formed up for our pay. We saw a plane in the distance of the London docks, bombing. We saw the bombs leave the plane. There was a mad dash for the air raid trenches. The Sergeant in charge said "Don't worry lads, it's one of ours" so after that we had a laugh when we saw him.

I was transferred to Sevenoaks in January or February 1941. I used to go on unofficial leave on some Sundays by coach from a little place outside Sevenoaks. On the outside of London after an air raid I saw terrible sights: water mains burst etc; motor cars on their sides or upside down; smoke and fires still burning."

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