In the summer of 1944 I was an 11 year old schoolboy living in Estcourt Road South Norwood SE25. A doodlebug cut out and dived into the rear garden of No 34 just missing the Woodside to London railway line flattening many houses and causing the deaths of several members of the Barnett family.- Bobby my best friend his mother sister and grandparents. His father was away serving in the RAF and his older sister was working in London.
Apparently they managed to get into their anderson shelter but were unable to get the blast door closed. I lived on the other side of the Road, My family and I dived under the stairs when we heard the doodlebug screaming down - my father had reinforced the staircase with 4x2 timbers - this was thought to be the safest part of the house. Our front door was blown into the Hallway trapping us in until 2 Canadian soldiers helped us out unscathed.
Only 12 days later another doodlebug hit Estcourt Roadexactlly opposite on the other side of the Road causing extensive damage But no casualties as the houses were so badly damaged they were uninhabited. The plumbing in our house was still working so we were allowed to stay although the sky was clearly visible through the roof and most of our windows were broken. |
