Leicestershire and Rutland

Peter Hayes: Coventry Blitz

They finally picked us up from Coventry and took us back to Rugby at 10 the next day....

My War As A Child.

In the shelter it was noisy with babies crying, people talking, the air in the shelter was very cold to...

D-Day in Leicester

I walked several times the six miles to Stoughton aerodrome to watch the huge gliders being towed up and...

We Came Over on the Mayflower (Queen Mary)

She met my father Robert W. Propp when she was a student nurse at the Royal Infirmary in Leicester,...

Evacuees in Rutland

I lived in a village in Rutland and went to the local Church of England village school; all of us in the...

The Munitions Factory

This alarmed my family greatly and it was decided to move house as quickly as possible because we knew that...

A Mother's Grief

My mother suddenly screamed out and burst into tears and said that my brother Roy, who was serving in...

O.K. for Food

We had dummy airfields near here about 6 miles from Magna Park to try and confuse the Gerri's. We used...

Nightmare Experience

Janet Batson's recurrent nightmare. I was born in Kirby Muxloe, Leicester, in July 1943 and therefore...

School Dinner Diary

July 20th Had ½ greenish tomato, new spuds, spam and a date pud and custard. Oct 9th Had fish cakes,...

The Lancaster Crash at Thurnby Lodge, Leicester

In 1944/5 although I was a pupil at the City Boy's Leicester I had joined the Wyggeston Boys branch of...

A Near Miss

I was born in 1940 at 54, Scotlands Drive, Coalville, Leicestershire, the youngest of the Whitehouse...

Mrs Ball was Not Amused

I suppose he was lucky, unlike the ‘lads’ in Dad's Army, he had the full monty: battle...

Looking at Boots.

My Dad could never kill them though, he used to have to take them to the butchers. My dad worked for the...

My Worst Night

My father would not agree to an Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden, so Mother, Father, Aunt and...

A Young Boy's Memories of Wartime in Barwell

I was 10 years old and living in Elwell Avenue, Barwell, when the war started....

Some Memories of Elaine Waldrom

As we came back, we lived in Lancaster Street as we were walking a day told us a house in Jericoe Rd....

Looking for Hitler?

Daddy and uncle George were in the “Home Guard” and when daddy had to go away in the air-force,...

Apple Blossom Time

Was it Mildred who delighted me when cycling to work carefree and happy on the Leicester Road singing...

They Opened These Doors

I was four years old when the Second World War broke out, and attended Wyvern Avenue Infants School in...

Raid on Coventry 1940

I had been put to bed with my younger sister. We had been in bed some time when my mother pulled us...

ATS Secrets

One of my postings was to Beaumanor Hall near Leicester. The hut which I worked in is still standing in the...

Evacuation to East Leek

After that we were evacuated to East Leek, Loughborough... We used to get the bus from Worksop to Sheffield...

The Uninvited Guest

I had friends to tea To celebrate....

Plane Landing In Flames

This is a story from Mary Fletcher who was a cook in the WAAFs at RAF Bruntingthorp during the war. Not a...

Mildred Hayes: Land Army

Title: Land Army. I came to Lutterwoth in the land army during the war....