- Contributed by
- geenjay
- People in story:
- Geoff Wiseman , Derek Pratt
- Location of story:
- Colchester, Essex
- Background to story:
- Civilian
- Article ID:
- A4418859
- Contributed on:
- 10 July 2005
It was early in the war, I was 8 or 9 years of age at the time. A family friend, Derek Pratt, was an air raid warden, he rounded up myself and several friends to act as air raid casualties in a civil defence exercise.
The exercise started and we were made to lay down in the street, on blankets, as bomb casualties. We each had a label tied to us denoting our 'injuries'. Eventually an ambulance arrived, we were put on stretchers and taken to St Mary's hospital in Colchester. Once there we were removed from the ambulance and examined by a doctor.It was at this moment panic set in, when it was my turn to be examined, the doctor looked at my label, and instrcted the stretcher bearers to take me immediately to the operating theatre, to have a leg amputated.I took quite a lot of reassuring, before I was convinced that they would not actually cut off my leg.
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