Although only children at the time, the Second World War had a permanent effect on the schoolboys who lived through the conflict. Watching a country preparing for war and then being immersed in the horrors of the Blitz brought encounters and events that some will never forget. Now in their seventies and eighties, many are revisiting their memories of this time of upheaval and strife for the first time. In this charming book, David F. Wood recalls his days as a schoolboy in Essex, where his family moved when the Luftwaffe threatened his native London. With the same sense of fascination that grips many men of his generation, he describes watching airmen parachute to safety during the Battle of Britain and witnessing a Messerschmitt dramatically crash-landing close to his home. The accounts of his days spent playing with his new friends in the nearby countryside provide a stark contrast to the ravages of a war that was going on all around them. The first of a new series documenting the memories of these wartime schoolboys, this book is a must for anyone who wishes to learn more about life on the Home Front through the eyes of someone who witnessed it first hand.

Although only children at the time, the Second World War had a permanent effect on the schoolboys who lived through the conflict. Watching a country preparing for war and then being immersed in the horrors of the Blitz brought encounters and events that some will never forget. Now in their seventies and eighties, many are revisiting their memories of this period of upheaval and strife for the first time. As he fully immersed himself in rural life in the little village of Pulborough, the author witnessed some extraordinary events, from finding an injured German airman in the woods, to watching Bailey bridges being erected in the fortified village and observing the Battle of Britain raging overhead. After four years of highs and lows, evacuation had a lasting effect, and although he could not wait to return to London, the author moved back to Sussex as soon as he was old enough. Due to it proximity to the south coast, West Sussex was a dangerous place in the wartime years, and this poignant book documents events indelibly inscribed on a generation's minds.

Although only children at the time, the Second World War had a permanent effect on the schoolboys who lived through the conflict. Watching a country preparing for war and then being immersed in the horrors of the Blitz brought encounters and events that some will never forget. Now in their seventies and eighties, many are revisiting their memories of this period of upheaval and strife for the first time. In this poignant book, the author shares vivid memories of his evacuation from war-torn London to the comparative safety of places like Newquay, St Ives and Redruth in Cornwall. From touching recollections of enjoyable days spent with loved ones to the dark moments of falling bombs, this is an honest account of a wartime child's formative years. Together with rare images and accounts from fellow evacuees who were sent to Cornwall to escape the ravages of war, this book reveals how these experiences are indelibly inscribed on the minds of wartime children.

E.J. Rudsdale’s role as a museum curator and air-raid shelter superintendent at Colchester Castle during the Second World War gave him the perfect opportunity to record life on the Home Front in his journals. Seventy years later, the selected extracts gathered here provide a remarkable insight into wartime life. Rudsdale’s writing is characterised throughout by his wry observations of wartime officialdom and his lack of conformity with the prevailing views of the time. He was a pacifist, which gives his journals an unusual perspective. However, even as a civilian he could not escape the conflict, living in a garrison town threatened by invasion and regular bombing raids. His journals, therefore, record anxious and tragic events, but throughout it all his sense of humour is never diminished. This absorbing collection demonstrates Rudsdale’s ability to bring a scene vividly to life and each account highlights the daily pressures that people endured as they valiantly tried to carry on with normal life in spite of the war.