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'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Rick Allden of the CSV 麻豆官网首页入口 Coventry and Warwickshire Action Desk on behalf of M. R. Spurgeon and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions'.

When the first 鈥渄oodle-bug鈥� was sighted we had no idea that it heralded a plague. I lived in Kent and when a lull occurred during an air raid in the middle of the night, neighbours used to come out into their front gardens, listening for planes and chatting with each other before scuttling indoors to a hot cup of tea at the first sign of trouble.

On 13th June l944 my brother and I were enjoying this excuse to be outside in the middle of the night, when a chugging sound could be heard unlike the usual noise of an approaching German bomber. This was the first of Hitler鈥檚 pilotless planes carrying high explosives, which were called V1s but became known as doodle-bugs. Instead of running for shelter we all stood mystified. In addition to its distinctive throaty sound we could see a light spurting from its tail, like a firework.

As it came into view and passed almost overhead everyone was delivering opinions about it. Some thought it was a damaged plane trying to reach base. Most thought Hitler was behind it. When it had travelled about half a mile beyond us, the engine cut out and it was too dark to follow it further. A minute or two later
we were shaken by a loud explosion from that direction. What was it? We all had to wait for an answer to that question.

I assume the answer was given on the news broadcast on the wireless the next morning. This was the secret weapon launched by Hitler in response to the Allies鈥� D-Day landing which had taken place seven days earlier. Within three days he was launching up to seventy three doodle-bugs a day from the launch sites in France. Most hit Sussex, Kent and London, and this route became known as 鈥渂omb alley鈥�. They menaced everyone and everything in their path, causing havoc and loss of morale, although our fighter planes managed to destroy some of them in flight.

But ordinary people still showed much spirit. I recall being on a bus, which had pulled up because an air raid warning had sounded. The bus conductor was a cheerful cockney well known on the route and nicknamed 鈥淧orky鈥� because his snub nose gave him a piggy appearance. He treated his passengers to a running commentary on the progress of the doodle-bug while leaning out from the bus platform, hanging onto the handrail. His account was punctuated with swear words which my brother and I were delighted to hear as they were new to our ears. At the same time he managed to shake his fist at the bomb while telling Hitler several times, in a very loud voice, just what he would like to do to him.

The Government encouraged evacuation and, along with more than a million women, children, elderly and disabled people who left London and other cities, my brother, sister, and I left for safer regions. We travelled with my mother to Nottingham (and later to Yorkshire) packed like sardines into the train鈥檚 guards-van with no room to move our feet and my two-year-old sister perched on top of luggage. I have no recollection of how we coped on the two hour journey without any access to a toilet!

This story was donated to the People鈥檚 War website by M. R. Spurgeon, of the Leam Writers. If you would like to find out more about Leam Writers call 0845 900 5 300.

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