"Boom!"

My sister came to me one day, and asked me to play the piano at a party she was having. Of course we didn’t have music then. So I said “Alright yes”, and I got myself ready.

Coming home we had to cross Clapham Common, and we were walking along and all talking, when all of a sudden this gun went off behind us “BOOM”, and I’ve never been so frightened in all my life! I’ve never been so near a gun going off.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the BBC Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Dorothy Cottis and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Dot's stories:

• Doing a man’s job
• Red skies for miles
• I must have looked nuts!
• I had to collect my own flowers!
• They went to work in slippers
• ”Ping Ping”
• You had to have a laugh

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