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My education (official) finished in the Leicester blitz of 1940 when my school was destroyed. I was eleven years old.

My next encounter with the enemy was May 30th 1943, a month after I came to Torquay.

Mother had rented a penthouse flat overlooking Torbay, but she was aware that three large hotels at the rear of the flats were the billets for about 5,000 RAF trainees.

At 3pm Sunday Torquay was attacked by 21 Fokker aircraft, each carrying a 1,000lb bomb and armed with cannon and machine guns.

Seven came in from our side of Torquay at window level - we were hit by machine gun bullets and cannon shell.

Laying on the floor below the parapet of the front bay window, I saw the pilot of the plane and I watched the bomb that hit us leave the aircraft.

During the last raid, May 29th 1944, I was blown through the French window doors of the balcony by the blast of one of the hundreds of bombs that dropped into the empty bay - which only hours before had been the anchorage for a 1,000 plus invasion fleet.

The following day the fleet came back and the loading of the troops commenced for the Normandy invasion.

It was during those days that we watched 23,000 lads of the 4th Infantry Division embarking from the Torquay Harbour slipways. Five thousand were dead within one month (official 4th Inf Div records). They had landed at UTAH losing only 167 men.

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