"There you are I told you so!"

I went to school in the seaside resort of Withernsea. I had to cycle three miles everyday there and back to school. One day I had just got home from school and put my bicycle in the barn, (we lived on a small farm) when I saw my mother coming across the field towards me with empty buckets in her hand after feeding the chickens. An aircraft flew over us very low going eastwards. I ran towards mum pointing at the aircraft shouting that it was a German aircraft. Mum told me off saying: “Don’t be so stupid.” We watched the aircraft drone on for another minute or so when suddenly: “Boom boom boom boom,” four explosions in a row. I turned to mother and said smugly: “There you are I told you so!” The bombs had been dropped down the main street of Withernsea and remarkably, although still devasting, only one person lost their life.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Krysten Hall CSV BBC Coventry and Warwickshire volunteer on behalf of Ralph Butcher and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

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