Essex

BOMB

When I lived in Ilford, Essex, I worked in a shop in the west of Ilford, and I was serving a lady...

Baling Out!

The Ack Ack had shot down one of the planes and it landed in a field somewhere in Dagenham and an airman...

Childhood Memory

My most vivid experience during the war occured in daytime. I would be standing as a small boy in the back...

The German Pilot and the Home Guard

A German plane crashed nearby and its pilot went to the pub to hand himself in. The German pilot walks into...

"Open the door, Richard"

My cousin Gladys was 18 in 1943 and she met a US airman called Ethan Richards who was based at Boreham...

Bullets in the Barn

We had a tin roof on a barn there and the Jerries used to sweep low and riddle it with bullets....

Bombs over Braintree

I was in the cinema in Braintree when the bomb dropped on Barclays Bank....

Army Youth

My first rememberance of the war was a visit to the cookhouse in Colchester army barracks where my father...

Shopping at the Co-op in Wimpole Road

Went shopping around the Co-op in Wimpole Road, Colchester. When leaving the Co-op bakery in Kendall Road,...

Sunday Ride Out

One Sunday morning my Dad said "Let's Cycle over to Springfield & see Uncle Ted at Springfield...

D Day at Wormingford air base

D Day at Wormingford air base...

Watching the bombers

I was a child in WW2 and I remember standing in the front garden of my house and watching a long line...

Mines on the Blackwater Estuary

Because the wide, shallow Blackwater Estuary - off Mersea Island was considered to be an obvious landing...

56 Squadron

This is a fairly early picture of 56 Squadron either at the time of the Battle of Britain or just after. My...

Bombs over Hatfield Peverel

Some houses along the side of the river had their windows blown out....

Limbs Everywhere

One day she was sent on what promised to be a very distressing mission as a large number of arms and legs...

Group of Pilots and Crew - 1941/43

Again I have no idea who the pilots are in this picture but I'm assuming it was 56 Squadron or a...

Trouble at Home

Albert lived with his wife and two young children in a bungalow at Portman Drive, Woodford Green, Essex......

Identity Cards

My maternal grandparents lived in Kingsland Road, West Mersea. On one occasion past the Peldon Rose...

School 1935-1945

At both Canterbury Road School 1935 - 1941 and Colchester Royal Grammar School 1941-1945 air raid shelters...

PHOTO A WAAF and a Pilot

Not sure if she is a WAAF or perhaps a visiting wife....

56 Squadron at Leisure

Does anyone recognise the 56 Squadron pilots in this photo taken by my father?.. I'm assuming it was...

American Airmen in Stebbing

During WW2 there were many American airmen stationed around Stebbing because of the airfield nearby....

Henry Samuel Stevens

Trying to trace relatives of Henry Samuel Stevens. Henry had a sister Florence Jemmitt and a Sister Miss...

The Highland Monarch

Guards on M.V ‘Highland Monarch’ en route to Gibraltar. Christmas, a time of happiness,...

A Trio of Pilots - 56 Squadron

I believe he was shot down over Malta and I believe he was decorated during his short time as a fighter...