31st July 1940

Raid alarm tonight from 9.30 to 10pm. Only 17 people came in. It is surprising how few people bother to take cover at night.

2 comments:

Hogdayafternoon said...

I remember my parents telling me that they only went into their shelter in the garden a few times, as in the Summer of 1940 it got so hot in there, day and night, that they were wilting. They told me that they felt, `if we were going to go, we'd rather go in the comfort of our own bed`! I think they got so used to the raids (East London) that they found that one night they'd slept through having their french doors blown in by a blast. They woke up with the frame lying across the bottom of the bed!

E J Rudsdale said...

Thanks for your very helpful insight on why people were not inclined to spend their nights in a shelter. What stoic people your parents were - it never ceases to amaze me how people coped in such difficult times.