Leytonstone. E.11
Sunday, 11 pm
[Sept 1940]
My Dear Mam & Dad,
I was very glad to get your letter, & especially to hear that Mam's sight was improving. I hope it will soon get very much better. You have both had a wearying and trying time &, unfortunately, it is not over yet. Still, I hope that your air-raids are less long and severe than ours. The damage done in Leytonstone alone is vast. Land-mines have been sent down by parachute & they blast away houses, literally by the 100. One went off in Grove Green Rd the other night & over 200 houses are uninhabitable. Another went off at the far end of Essex Rd - where it joins Lea Bridge Rd. & again the damage was terrific. Last week 3 houses were blown down in Connaught Rd, 3 in Chelmsford, 2 in Percy Rd, some in Queens Rd & Walwood Rd & lots of other places. I started my duties as a Warden last Monday. I have to patrol Cavendish Drive, Scarborough Rd & the railway arches. On Monday a 'Molotov Basket" of 50 incendiary bombs burst over Cavendish Drive, the flats at the back & the school over the railway. That was within an hour of my starting my duty. We wardens - 4 of us - put out 10 fires between our house and the bottom of the Rd. Norlington School was blazing & Jerry was using it as a beacon & dropping heavy bombs. Later in the same evening a high explosive bomb dropped on the front step of 50 Cavendish Drive. I was only 25 yds away talking to 2 other wardens when it dropped. Of course we heard it shrieking down and flung ourselves flat on the pavement. Masonry, timber and iron railings flew over our heads but we were unharmed - thanks be to God. I was off duty on Tuesday but have to lie down fully dressed so that I can be called by whistle if wanted. On Wednesday a bomb dropped on the parapet of one of the railway arches at the back Cavendish Drive. I climbed on the embankment with another warden & saw that the line was blocked & that a train was signalled. We ran to the signal box about 150 yds away & stopped the train. Then went and examined the damage & returned to report. The line was not damaged & a gang soon cleared the debris. On Friday night we had a few incendiary bombs again, which we easily put out. Ordinary incendiary bombs can be dealt with quite easily if you keep your head & act quickly. The most difficult was one that lodged in the loft of No.34 Cavendish Drive. There was no trap door & eventually the A.F.S had to come to make a hole in the roof. By that time it had burnt through & fallen on to the landing floor, where wardens put it out with a stirrup pump. About 5 am that same night (or morning) an oil bomb fell on 151 Cavendish Drive. That was terrible. I had only about 60 yds. to run, but when I got there the whole place was an inferno. A few of us wardens played on the flames with stirrup pumps until - 20 minutes later - the A.F.S came. They only had to come 50 yds from round the corner, but according to rules, they had to wait for orders from headquarters. I shall write a complaint about that. The house was completely gutted, but the fire did not spread. Our raids are such long ones - they start about 8 pm & last until 5.30 or 5.45am. Most of that time the guns are roaring and Jerry is hovering round. Tonight he started at 7.20 pm & is still going strong. We get 5 & 6 warnings a day, so that school is a farce - only about 1/3 of the boys are attending & then we spend our time in air-raid shelters. I am managing pretty well at home. Of course we have been without gas for 3 weeks as the Gas, Light & Coke Company's works were bombed in that terrible Saturday's raids 3 weeks ago. There's no likelihood of gas for some time yet. Well, all this is pretty terrible - it's heartbreaking to see fine buildings & peoples houses just reduced to heaps of rubble. Harrow Green Baptist Church in Leytonstone High Rd. was completely burnt out by an oil bomb. I will try to see if I can get someone to share this house with me for company. It has not been pleasant to spend long hours alone waiting for Jerry & hearing bombs whistle down, but God has given me strength. Whatever happens, this is no place for Rube & the kiddies. Folk are moving out every day, Church services are almost always disturbed by air-raid warnings. Some day it will end, I suppose, but we may have to endure more yet. Folk are brave, but the strain is telling on them. Housewives hurry to get the shopping done between raids, & then crouch or lie in shelters all night. I have brought Ruth's bed into the dining room & also cleared out the cupboard under the stairs. I sit or lie on a mattress under the stairs when bombs are dropping & use the other bed when things get quiet or at 6 am when the "all clear" has gone. Whenever possible I snatch some sleep during the daytime as it is impossible to get much sleep at night, even when I'm not on duty.
Well, give my love to folk at Barry - the Green St. folk, Auntie Rachel etc. Muriel has escaped a lot by leaving London - I can't tell you of the damage done here, but we're carrying on. Try not to worry about me - I'm in safe keeping & will do all I can to look after myself. You try to look after yourselves.
With lots of love
Your loving son
Will
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