Essex

The Tragic Wartime Romance of Norman Battersby and Eileen Smith

The first we hear from Eileen is in a chatty letter that she sent to Norman, who was stationed at Appledore...

The East End Legacy: My Family Story

My Mum and Dad met when they were just 14 years old on a Council estate in Essex. No, what used to...

My Wartime Experience as a Child in Hornchurch

At the time of the anti-personnel bombs we found a large tin full of "oil and metal rollers". We...

Goodnight Children Everywhere

When we arrived in the town my mother and I found the billeting office, this was the place where the...

A Disrupted Education

Scarcely a shot had been fired outside of the borders of Poland, when my Palmers Green Primary School was...

Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire - and Back!

Now he was stationed at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint, and later in the war he was posted to HMS Duke at Great...

My War: From Essex to Austria

Later my father put me in a military school, and I had to join the army.I took part as a young soldier...

Pattiswick in 1943

The planes had to land by crossing over the Earls Colne to Coggeshall road and the battle damage could...

A Teacher in Wartime

We had given up our rented house in Rainham so we stayed in Rochford and looked after the children that...

Child's View of WW2 - 1939-1945

German bombers used to fly over Leigh on the way to London by day and night and they dropped bombs on Leigh...

Light and Sound - The Blitz

I remember well the noises and the sounds - the sound of the aircraft - the distinctive crack of the A.A....

Worcestershire welcomes Clacton's children.

I was 14 years old and lived at Clacton-on-Sea, on the flight path for German planes heading to bomb...

WW2: A Brief Personal History

I was about to start my third year at the Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Chingford when we were...

Childhood Memories from Rayleigh in Essex: Home Life

Occasionally we had a chicken dinner and eggs could be swapped for other commodities that were in short...

Childhood Memories from Rayleigh in Essex:Entertainment.

They would show cartoons, Laurel and Hardys, Charlie Chaplins etc, all interspersed with propaganda on...

Special Operations Executive Station XIV at Briggens, Roydon

At Briggens, we occupied the cellars of this country house, while above ground and in the surrounding...

Loughton at War

Later that year a whole stick of bombs landed on Tyshurst Hill and demolished an almost complete row of...

Blondie, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Remembers the Soldiers Who Made Toys for Her

But I have vivid memories of the way we lived: a solid fuel fire in the kitchen, 2 paraffin heaters to cook...

A Young Wife’s Memory of Barkingside

I was lucky to have a “white” wedding and I queued at John Lewis’ store from 6.30am for...

Evacuating London

He left my younger brother with my mother in London and set off by train to Leeds. We used to scrump apples...

Memories of a Small Boy

Not dramatic ones, I was lucky being evacuated away from the worst of the bombing of London to my...

Evacuation, 1939: From Leytonstone to Brentwood

Leyton, although in effect an eastern suburb of London was then in the county of Essex - thus our school...

Memories of School Days in Wickford in WW2

Unfortunately the shop had to close, and we moved up to number 8 Victoria avenue, a bungalow where we also...

Roland's War

Our family comprised my mother, Emily, my sisters,Renee and Barbara and my younger brother, David. My...

My Call-Up -Part One

We were being drilled one day by a sergeant who later stood us at ease, then pranced up and down the ranks,...

Childhood Exploits

Burnham was en route to London so we saw lots of bombers going over. The float was made of balsa wood, and...