War Memories

The Blitz

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The bombing of London developed slowly the Germans started with Bombing the oil refineries along the River Thames and the nitrogen works at Billingham. And then the Germans started attacking other important targets across Britain.

The Docks in the Cities and around Britain were their main target. They mined the Deveonport Harbour, at Plymouth, and attacked shipping wherever they could and they attacked any suspected war production plants along our coasts.

Approximately one year after the war was declared by Britain on Nazi Germany, they started their night bombing, with a Blitz on London and on occasions, other populated areas that they spotted or chose to attack. And then they started bombing other British cities; nowhere was safe.

The bombing lasted for 76 consecutive nights without a break; on the first night there were 348 Luftwaffe bombers, escorted by 617 figter planes. The bombs weighing 100kg each rained down killing over 43,000 civillians over a period of almost nine months; then we started controlling the skies.

In the early evening on 7th September 1940 the Blitz of London started. Londoners were prepared, some had cellars, others lived close to a Tube stations and would make their way there when the alarms were sounded. The volume of the shrill and wail of the sirens resembled a prolonged high-pitched loud and forceful mechanical screaming noise.

Everybody understood its meaning, and on hearing it; they hurridly went to the nearest safe air-raid shelter. However after the first Blitz the bombing was usually carried out at night; in many instances people couldn't sleep while they waited. When they heard the droning overhead, they could only wait for the bombs to start dropping around or in some cases on them.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Memories of World War II

The second night in the London Blitz

Esther Cutting is the wife Stan who served in the Royal Marines.

It was on the 8th in the month of September 1940 during the second night of what later became known as the blitz. Esther now 86 years old in the year 2009, relives her memories of World War II.

It was the second night running that London was being bombed by the Germans who had superiority of the air; Britain had not had enough time to be able to come to terms with the amount of bombming that was to arrive over London.

We lived in Canning Town, East London, near the docks. There was just my mother my younger brother and I who lived at home. Our father had died the year before and our two younger brothers and sister had been evacuated to wales because it was much safer.

I was 16 and my brother was 14. It was about six p.m. on a Saturday evening when the air raid warnings made its erie wailing sounds; informing everybody that an air raid was imenent.

The three of us went down to the Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden; we settled down for the night and waited for the bombs to fall.

We were bombed for twelve hours

We knew there were lots of German planes becuase we could hear all of the explosions when the bombs exploded. The bombing lasted for many hours on the first night; we didn't dare move until the all clear was sounded.

At around 2 a.m. we were woken by loud speakers calling out for volunteers to help at the school that had been bombed. A lot of people had been sheltering at the school for the night. The name of the school was Agate Street School, Canning Town.

It was just a few streets away from us; my brother and I wanted to go and help but our mother wouldn't let us out of the shelter because the bombing raid was still going on; and the bombs were falling everywhere.

Then the "All Clear" sounded

The "All Clear" sounded at 6 a.m. then our mother allowed us to go to the school. When we arrived there we could not believe what we saw; the school had been bombed to the ground. Many people had been killed mainly women and children.

We heard afterwards that over eighty bodies had been removed from the rubble; many were whole famlies; but we never really knew how many had died there. The school was the collection point for evacuation to the west of the country.

They had been due to be evacuated to a safe place the previous day but the buses had not arrived to take them; it was decided to allow them to sleep in the school. When the buses arrived the next morning they could see that they were too late for the poor people that were buried under the debris.

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There were people of all ages helping to get the bodies out; then they were taken away. Doctors and nurses were doing their best for any of the injured they could find.

Whilst we were there one of the helpers pulled out a baby; it was wrapped up in a shawl and completely covered in debris. He took the shawl off and shook away the debris and the baby started to cry; everyone was pleased to know it was still alive.

I often wondered afterwards if they ever found the mother alive as well; but I would think it was hardly unlikely.

That, I think is my most horrible memory of the war. I lived in London's East End all through the war and worked in North Woolwhich; where we were being bombed day and night.

I look back sometimes now; and I can't believe our age group lived the way we did.

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