One of the shelters I remember we used was situated beneath Devonport Market. I read an account of the Blitz in a newspaper in the past couple of years to the effect that this shelter had received a direct hit by the enemy during the Blitz. I remember that we also used the air-raid shelter situated beneath Devonport Park.

I can recollect that the day after an air-raid my brother and I would go into the streets to pick up pieces of shrapnel, which would still be warm to the touch. I remember too, all the barrage balloons way up in the sky, doing a worthwhile job. My dad used to spend a lot of time during the raids on duty, to see what assistance he could give in any way with causalities, etc. The ARP would always be on duty. After our home was destroyed, a friend of the family invited us to her house, to use two rooms for the time being. This house was situated a few yards from the Western Hotel. Fore Street, which was just across the road from the Forum Cinema, which still stands to this day. I have vivid memories of one night when my mother told my brother, sister and me, who had just gone off to sleep, to slip our coats over our pyjamas as the siren had sounded the warning of an air-raid, and we had to rush to Devonport Park shelter.

I remember how frightened we all were as we rushed along Fore Street to the shelter; I happened to glance back as bombs and incendiary devices were being dropped and lighting up the darkness as if it were daylight, due to the explosions and fires caused by them. There was a strong smell of burning and the heavy smoke everywhere. I could see the house we had left some moments before going up in flames, and to this day I can't help feeling how lucky we were to come through the war.

What a big relief it was when we reached the safety of the shelter in Devonport Park, where we went down steps to join many other families until the siren sounded the all clear! I can remember trying to go to sleep on the wooden benches amongst the sound of everyone's voices. We all used to sing the popular songs of the day to keep our spirits up. e.g. "It's A Long Way to Tipperary", "Pack up Your Troubles", "Lily of Laguna", "Underneath the Arches", etc.

I had an Aunt and Uncle, Mr and Mrs W Herring who lived in a flat in a big house near the railway station at Exmouth Road, Stoke, Devonport. They did not like going to the air-raid shelter but preferred to stay underneath the stairs when a raid occurred . The German bombers were trying to bomb the railway station but my aunt and uncle lost their lives through a direct hit on their house.

Only grown-ups were allowed to visit the Efford Cemetery for the mass funeral of the civilian war dead, totalling nearly 400 persons. I remember that when my father and mother and other relations were going to the cemetery that I wanted to go with them as I had loved my late aunt and uncle very much.

I also remember when we had travel by bus with many people to Plympton, where we used to use a Church Hall for sleeping purposes. We used to have blankets to sleep on, and the floor would be full of people, I can still see the big chums that they used to feed us soup from. I remember that, because we only had the clothes that we wore, we were taken to another Church, Sherwell Church, North Hill, where we went into the Hall where we were fitted with clothes and shoes.

I know I was only six years old but I have vivid recollections of the camaraderie which existed amongst the Devonport folk. Everybody seemed to help each other, and do good turns for one another. For a short while we resided at 16 Edinburgh Road, Devonport, the home of my aunt and uncle: Mr and Mrs W Earnshaw, their family and my granddad (they had a flat there). This road was situated right next to the Dockyard.

When the American soldiers came to Devonport they were situated in huts not far from Edinburgh Road. All of us children used to go and see them, they would hand us gifts of chocolate and chewing gum. I can remember when they would join with us in a game of baseball. Not long afterwards we were allocated a flat in a house at Vanguard Villas, Keyham, Devonport, which was near the Royal Naval Barracks. This was only temporary, because the owners were evacuated.

The owners came back to claim their home, so we had another move to Walters Road, St Budeaux, Plymouth. Not far away in Normandy Way there were more huts which housed many American sailors. I was never told at the time what these servicemen were doing in Devonport and St Budeaux, It was only recently that I became aware of how these servicemen and many more Americans joined with our Armed Forces in the D-Day landings in 1944 in Normandy.