- Contributed by听
- audlemhistory
- People in story:听
- Humphry Parker
- Location of story:听
- London
- Background to story:听
- Army
- Article ID:听
- A5807865
- Contributed on:听
- 19 September 2005
During 1945 I was in the Army, stationed in the East End of London, the exact location was supposed to be secret! As a former bank clerk, my task was to oversee and be responsible for the pay of the troops preparing for the invasion of Europe. Not surprisingly some of the pay was in foreign currency as the men formed part of the Allied Invasion, and you can imagine how strange some of them found it handling French Francs for the first time in their lives and wanted to be sure that they had got the correct amount they were due.
It was not all bad and being in London one of the few plus points was the availability of entertainment. On our nights off duty we went to the various dance halls and enjoyed ourselves most of the time. However I vividly remember that on a number of nights the dancing was interrupted by a succession of Doodlebugs coming out of the eastern sky and all too many of them diving to ground destroying lives and buildings.
At the time it was accepted as normal but I am reminded now once again how the ordinary people of both countries suffered casualties, unlike in previous wars when those at home in the United Kingdom were not targets
漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.
Recommended story
Story with photo