Caught in crowd next to Churchill, author of Blitz diary

Do you keep a daily diary?

Some people do, including my dad, who is currently a resident of Hamilton House Nursing Home in Buckingham, just up the road from where you live!

28 August 1940

The air-raid warning of the night of 26th-27th lasted 6 hours, during which time I was mainly indoors vainly trying to go to sleep.the guns on Clapham Common brought me into the Court once. the ‘All Clear’ was sounded at about 3.35 a.m.Yesterday I arrived home early and went to bed at 7 p.m. and managed to secure a long-awaited hour’s sleep before the sirens went again. the warning lasted till midnight, and then half-an-hour later we had another lasting forty minutes. People cannot hope to continue in this strain, and Hider causes more damage by robbing Londoners of their sleep than if he destroyed factories. the trouble is we must take the risk and sleep, although Jerry’s system is obvious, he drops one or two bombs here and there in the suburbs so that people take cover as they can never be quite certain. on the 26th-27th German planes came over Holmbury Court every ten minutes. Of course people are now beginning to ignore warnings with the consequence that one night we will awake to a siren and it will be no unnecessary alarm. (Indeed they are not anyhow.) the ‘yellow’ warning has been on all this morning so I suppose the twentieth alarm will shortly come. This morning after I had actually got to sleep, and was dreaming about crashed German bombers and bombs, of Pewsham and I racing for shelter and capturing Nazi airmen, a terrific growl awoke me, and in the greying dawn a German bomber flew right overhead. his. noise was terrific – proved to wake me up – and I really thought he would drop something. it was a typical German drone – like a bee buzzing to its hive. Definitely the Forces are better off than us, for they at least are not disturbed in a warning if they are off duty and on duty they can see and take part in retaliation. Henderson who lives in the flats and is attached to anti-aircraft, saw a Heinkel shot down near Caterham the night before last.I have not had a peaceful sleep since Friday. I am past fatigue. one cannot even settle down to sleep in a warning for the continuous drone of enemy planes overhead makes it distracting, disturbing. However, I spoke to Miss Spindler and Miss Mann for a time yesterday about my rise. They are all most indignant and think, as they have long done, that I richly deserve one. I like both Miss Spindler and Miss Mann very much indeed.Miss Spindler has very kindly given me her Kodak camera, which is a little beaut. I shall give her 2/6d though to contribute to her local ‘Spitfire’ fund, in which cause it was originally to have been sold.the girl in the ABC looks very nice, but I guess she is not in the slightest interested in me. Oh Binnie darlingl (Binne’s was his penfriend)

There was no bank holiday weekend in 1940 – Britain was at War…….

Want to know more?

Call us for further details on 020 8432 6450  at Catch Friday Media Ltd

If you are a bookshop wishing to stock his book – we would be interested in talking to you.

If you are a school or university we would like to supply you with copies.

The book has sold all over the world, and believe it or not the author Colin Perry is famous, and so could you be – if you keep your diary.

Amazingly Colin Perry’s diary survives, will yours?

<a href="http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=209133tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news”>OfficialWire: Buckingham War Veteran To Appear On Itv In September

Tags: crowd, dad, daily diary, londoners, s system

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