FlightMan

An extract from my grandfathers 1940 diary , he lived on the outskirts of Guildford:

( text in brackets is mine )

Thursday 12th December 1940.
Woke up at 3 by air-raid siren. Raid lasted until 05:50. At 04:00 heard the whistle of a bomb, then heard 8 or 9 bombs exploding, a terrific roar. I quite expected one to pitch on our house ( He lived with my Gran and my mum, who was 6 at this time ) They had fallen one in the paddock by Aldershot Rd ( approx 300 yrds away ) one in allotments up through fields ( approx 200 yards away ) then by houses in Foxborrows ( approx 500 yards away ) The houses here had caught the blast very badly. Worked 7 - 7 ( it took him 1 hour each way to cycle to work as well. He did 7 - 7 Mon-Sat and 7 - 12:30 Sundays ) evening at home. Con ( my Gran ) found 2 pieces of bomb splinter one in path and one under front window.

This appears to be very much a typical day. He speaks of an air-raid lasting from 23:00 to 03:00, and the 3 of them getting into the living room for safety. Then going to bed at 03:15 after the all clear and having a "peaceful night" !
He's been dead for 12 years now, but reading this is like he never left. How people coped with this, I'll never know. The Blitz on London must have been hell.

bob r

iTrader: (46)

we dont know how lucky we are today.

when i was in the royal marines i recieved a letter from my grandad(also R.M) he described how he was involved in the d-day beach landings and that he and a mate was dug in as they took heavy enemy fire for over 12 hrs. his only weapon was a pistol. when the attack subsided he called to his mate that they should move but discovered a bullet in his mates head.
this was very sobering reading to me when i thought i had it bad.

the big yim

makes you realise how lucky we all are that we haven't got to live through all of that. I have nothing but respect for all the veterans

OllyK

I must post up the memoires of a family friend who was in the Paras on the Pegasus Bridge raid in the gliders, that makes for interesting reading!

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

I spent 15 years recording all this stuff -mainly from 1940 in Kent and Sussex.
Very moving and interesting.
Many people have seem to have forgotten rather quickly and take things for granted. Not their fault alot of the time - it doesnt take long for it to fade from living memory
Steve

gussy

iTrader: (2)

When my father died last year and I cleared his house we found all the letters he had sent home while he was serving in his tank regiment in India /north africa/Italy the price they paid during the 2ww and how lucky he was to come out of it alive.