What a Night. 19th February 1944 @ 01.15!

There were two high explosive bombs dropped on the Chiswick High Road,and Dukes Avenue 3 dead,9 injuries and 4 minor injuries.

The second bomb hit the Red Arrow Garage,Chiswick Common Road, there were six serious injuries and 2 minor injuries.

The above information was taken from the
Wartime Incident Book Chiswick Library W4.

This was the night that myself and the family would never forget. There was my father, mother, sister Elaine, brother Roy, and myself. My elder sister Rita had already married and was living in Shepherds Bush, whilst my brother Andrew was fighting with the Eighth Army.

Having had a hectic week at work and school
we all decided that we would go to bed and not face the trauma of carrying our bedding and other essentials to the large underground shelter on Turnham Green.

Living over a shop we had to use this shelter all through the war. So the thought of a nice Friday night in our own beds, sounded very attractive, so
that is what we did. I think that we had about two hours sleep when the siren sounded, at the same time my father had woken up, and changed into his
Home Guard uniform. He was on duty that night and came into our bedrooms and said "you'd all better get dressed and go to the shelter". He then left us and went down the stairs (there were 20 of them) to report for duty. Within seconds he came rushing back up the stairs saying "Quick, get out, as quick as you can they've dropped flares and we're a target!". Before any of us could make a decision, fate and the Nazis, decided for us - the whole house shook and the lights went out. It was very dark, we were still in our night clothes, not able to even find a coat. We were all in the front room, the front room door was hanging in a dangerous position with my sister trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, she pushed the door onto me and I was not hurt but at the same time large lumps of plaster came falling from the ceiling and one large lump hit me on the head.

It was very frightening, too dangerous to stay, we had to get out. My poor mother crying with fright was also upset that
the new dentures she had bought that day would be lost and about bobby (our cat) who was out in the raid at that time.

Now dad was trying to get us to safety, so got us all to the head of the stairs, only to find horror of horrors, there were no stairs there. All that was left was a mountain of bricks and rubble which we had to climb down the best way we could, sliding on our bottoms (if I remember correctly) and when we reached the bottom and got into the yard below there were also mountains of bricks, etc.

The Garage behind us was furiously burning. A sight from hell. We did learn later that the blast had blown a motor cycle through the attic window, and was laying on my brothers bed. Fortunately, he was in the Army at that time.

We then made our way out to the Chiswick High Road only to find that there was a lot of damage done and fires burning all around us. The furniture shop across the road had been hit, the Roman Catholic Church (on the corner of Dukes Avenue and Chiswick High Road) and many other buildings were badly damaged.

There were also small cottages damaged in Chiswick Common Road and Fishers Lane, and also a delayed action bomb was laying outside Chiswick Police Station. Certainly a night never to be forgotten.

I am writing this in July 2004 and all of the above is as clear as if it were only yesterday!

We were out, and we were so thankful to be alive. We were met by a group of very kind and sympathetic air raid wardens, who told dad that he would have to find us other accommodation because our flat was in a dangerous condition. We were not allowed back in, not even to collect a coat or two.

We wrer asked if any one was hurt and my father told them that I had a head injury, so I was whisked off to a Red Cross centre for observation - over night. Fortunately, my injury was not serious but I had two lovely black eyes and a very swollen forehead for a couple of weeks. I looked like a Panda!

The remainder of the family then had to walk to Shepherds Bush, where my sister Rita lived. My dad was carrying my 12 year old brother on his back, who had no shoes on his feet, and all of them walked along with the raid still going above their heads! They were exhausted when they surprised my sister at that early hour of the morning, but she made them very welcome.

After about a year we were allowed back into our newly decorated flat and found that all we had left behind was either lost, stolen or beyond repair. But the greatest insult to my father was to receive a bill from the Gas & Electric companies asking payment for the gas & electric used before we were bombed out! All they actually got was an extreemly angry letter from my father, together with a firm refusal to pay!

We did not know that while we were not in residense the meters had all been broken into and the money stolen. As if we had not suffered enough..

I also believe that there were quite a number of other bombs that hit West London and that Chiswick got the first V2 rocket - on 8th September 1944.

Mine is only one memory out of many. We thanked God that we had a very lucky escape and Bobby the cat turned up sometime later - another one of his nine lives had gone!

1944 was a very unhappy Year for us. In September we heard the bad news that my brother Andrew had been killed at Monte Cassino. Italy.

Muriel Greene Aug.9th. 2004.

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