Thread: The War Years
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Old 9th February 2019, 15:47
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John Rogers United States John Rogers is offline
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Location: St.louis,Missouri USA.
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Olive P
I heard the planes coming over. My husband made up beds for our girls in the Anderson Shelter. We spent the night in there.
Doris
You could smell all the burning.
Olive P
There was an explosive smell.
Peter L
I was 14 on the day of the Blitz. My mum had gone into town to go window-shopping with a friend. I was at home with my Granddad when the sirens went. We stood at the bottom of the garden and watched the flares coming down over Bristol. We rushed to the front door to continue watching them when we heard this noise like an express train over our heads and then a bomb dropped 20 yards from where we’d been standing in the garden. My mum came home about 2am – we’d never thought we’d see her again. Her knees were cut and bleeding. She ended up in an air raid shelter outside Temple Church – the leaning church. Every time a bomb had dropped they’d dropped to their knees.
Esme
I come from Southville. I joined the army when I was 17. When I came back to Bristol I worked on gun sites at Rodway Common, Burwalls (by the Suspension Bridge) and Whitchurch. I came out of the Hebron church in Hebron Road, Bedminister that night about 11:30, I looked over the city center and the sky was blood red. We heard bombs coming down and went into the bomb shelter in the vestry. When we came out we ran down Melville Terrace and then ran back because there was a plane above us.
Win
I was going to go out that evening with four friends. One of my friends was a sailor on leave. We were intending to go down to Temple Meads Station at about six that night to see him off. A siren went off and we didn’t think much of it because sirens were always going off and we didn’t have any bombs. Well, as we got to the door there was a whoosh bang! So we scampered back into the house and spent the rest of the night in the shelter. We sat there and we could hear all these bombs. After the all clear went, we went up onto Devon Road Bridge - it’s a high place over Whitehall. I’ve never seen anything like it – the whole town was on fire. The next morning I went off to work as usual and when I got there it was all gone. It seemed like all of Castle Street was flat – there were firemen and hosepipes everywhere. We didn’t know what to do. Then the boss came along and said, “We’ll get in touch with you, and you’ll have to go home”.

Last edited by John Rogers; 9th February 2019 at 17:43.
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