Doodle Bug Tales

1
We were having tea with a friend when we heard the ‘putt-putt’ of an approaching doodle-bug. Everyone was keen to see one of these and I dashed out into the garden, where I found my neighbours had also come out, and together we listened for the engine to stop — when it would fall from the sky. On it went: we talked for a few minutes, then I returned to the house. (I don’t remember if the question of my mother’s friend also came into the garden, arose). I found both of them UNDER the table…..!
To this day I still have that table. It is in constant use.

2
It was 7 a.m. and my mother was just taking a cup of tea in to our visitor in bed, when the now-familiar ‘putt-putt’ of a doodle bug was heard. “It’s one of those THINGS” shouts Louie, leaping out and getting under the bed. “Oh no, my dear”, says my so-calm mother — and then, there was an almighty explosion.
About 11/2 hours later, I went on my bike as usual, to work, and found my route blocked — houses in ruins and men searching for survivors. When I reached work I learned that some of our people had lost their homes, but nobody was killed. Most were in their Anderson shelters — but they all turned up for work, even if late!
The bomb was about a mile from my home.

The Rocket
A group of girls had got together a Drama Group and a play was put on in a church hall. I was not acting but selling programmes and halfway through the play, a loud explosion told us that a “V2 Rocket” had landed not far away. In true professional style, our producer called out “carry on”, which they did. But I got jittery and was convinced that the rocket had landed on my home or mother, a mile or two away. As I was not now needed for programme selling, I left and caught a bus home. That is something I find so hard to believe — “caught a bus home”, just like that — on my own, with a ten minute walk the other end — no question of IF the buses were running! My home was safe; the bomb was about half a mile away, but that was the only time during the war that I really got jumpy.

In the Shelter
My cousin Jack was in the R.A.F., and at one time, was stationed at Uxbridge, near me. When he was off-duty, he would come to us for a few hours and at one time we were having a lot of air-raid warnings and slept in the Anderson shelter. I remember him coming down to us, having slept in the house, bringing us an early cup of tea in our garden refuge!

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