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This story was added to the website by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk, on behalf of Kenneth Morford Mannion. The author has given his permission, and fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

During 1940 the Army installed an anti aircraft gun on our end of Osmasston park and the R.A.F installed a barrage balloon unit on the other side of the trees. These two installations proved very interesting to the local youngsters and we soon became very friendly with the service men and women. Fighter planes and light Bombers would fly around the area at low level appearing from behind the trees and houses to to give the anit aircraft gunners practice. At other times Spitfires would practice their manoeuvres by having mock battles with other aircraft over the park and surrounding areas. One day while I was watching the Spitfires I was standing on the park at the end of our garden when a Spitfire suddenly appeared from behind the trees and must have decided that I would make a good target. The plane came straight at me getting lower all the time. I dived to the ground, the plane came closer, then suddenly it swerved to the left and climbed into the sky. I hoped that the pilot had gained something from the manoeuvre because I certainly did not.
On another occasion the local schools were having a sports day on the park, having running races and football matches etc, when a Spitfire flew over at low level. The plane's cockpit canopy was open and the pilot was waving at us. The plane circled the park and the pilot continued waving, so we stopped whatever we were doing and waved back. The plane's engine was spluttering as it made several circuits of the park and then turned and flew off at low level. Shortly afterwards we heard the plane crash. It went down into signals at Peartree railway station. The plane burst into flames and the ammunition exploding in the fire prevented rescuers reaching the pilot. We found out later that the plane was low on fuel and the pilot was waving to clear us from the park so that he could land the plane.
Because of the Second World War every person was issued with a gasmask, which we were supposed to wear if the enemy attacked us with gas, therefore we all had to carry the gasmask in a small cardboard box on a string over their shoulder, whereever you you went. At school we had to wear our masks and go to underground shelters as practice in case of a real attack. Luckily a real attack never happened. During the early years of the war every household was issued with an Anderson air-raid shelter, this consisted of sheets of corrugated steel which could be bolted together to form what looked like an overgrown dog kennel about 8 feet times 6 feet with an opening at one end. A hole was dug in the ground about 3 feet deep and the shelter was stood in the hole then the soil which had been dug out was thrown over the top of the shelter. During an air-raid the family was expected to use the shelter for protection against shrapnel and debris from bombs and fallng buildings. We soon found that the shelters filled with water when it rained and in the winter froze solid so we usually stayed in the house and took our chances against the bombs.
Each night all windows had to be heavily draped to ensure no light from inside the house could be seen from outside. Air raid wardens would patrol the streets during the hours of darkness to ensure that all windows were suitably 'blacked out.' All the streets in the area had steel drums arranged every few yards along the pavements, filled with old oil and fitted with a chimney. In the event of an air-raid these drums would be set alight by the air -raid wardens to belch out dense smoke into the air and create a fog over the district. Hopefully stopping the pilots in the enemy planes from bombing their targets i.e Rolls Royce and the Railway Works. There was also very large balloons filled with Hydrogen and secured to winches on the ground by steele cables. These were flown at about 200 feet and were supposed to prevent enemy aircraft from flying at low level on their bombing missions. On the 2nd October 1939 when about 20 balloons were flying we had a sudden thunder storm and the lightening exploded most of the balloons and their steele cables were left draped across houses and roads causing chaos for the traffic and removing lots of tiles from the roofs.
Enemy attacks on Derby in 1940 were very limited on on the 25th October 1940 a Messerschmitt on a reconnaissance sortie to the Rolls Royce works was shot down by a fighter plane of 72 Squadron and the plane finally crashed into the North Sea off Yarmouth. On the night of 15/16th January 1941, Derby was attacked by 49 aircraft dropping 59 tonnes of high explosives and 1476 incendiaries badly damaging the LMS Railway Station and houses in Offerton Avenue, Derby Lane, Rosehill St, Litchurch St, and Canal St. The Bliss Factory was damaged but Rolls Royce escaped any damage. 20 people were killed and 48 injured. On the night of Tuesday 4th February 1941 forty aircraft raided Derby dropping 28 tonnes of high explosives and 3456 incendiaries but the bad weather and poor visability resulted in little damage and few casualties.

Part Two of this story can be found at A4456703

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