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Location
Purley, Surrey
Age
21 Years

31st October 1944

I am sleeping in the lounge on a camp bed because my room is full of furniture and this morning I had the arm chair pulled particularly hard up against the side to keep the clothes on. All of a sudden I heard Mother yelling “Come in Len, here’s one overhead” so I made an effort to get out. I kicked and struggled but in the blackout and dopey state of mind, could not get past the chair. Eventually I got to the door but did not have time to open it before it cut, so I dropped to the floor. The explosion shook the house badly but fortunately nothing broke.

I came in soon afterwards. Tommy said it was around Dale Road.

Later on, after breakfast, I went down to see if there was anything I could do to help. I discovered that there were still some people to be pulled out. The building was completely demolished but for the south wall. We worked at pulling bricks, broken wash basin, pipes, plaster and the like about putting them into baskets. Never have I seen people work so hard or with such goodwill. It was not long before an elderly woman was pulled out – her face covered with blood and both her feet broken and crushed. We worked on for nearly 2 hours during which time we broke up a slate-bed billiard table and turned it over.

Eventually the cry went up that someone had been discovered.

It was right next to where I was working so I turned around and helped.

We could just see a few locks of fair hair poking through the powdered rubble. Frantically, we cleared the face of a small child (about 2 years old). One side of her face was unrecognisable as if she had fallen from the 1st floor. Gradually the suffocating powder was removed  and her mother’s body was discovered beside her.

She was purple all down one side as if she too had fallen. Both must have been sleeping for they were dressed only in nightdresses. The Doctor gave them a cursory examination but both were dead. Some heavy object must have struck the mother across the mouth and nose because half of the nose was gone and the upper gum smashed in. Her feet were untouched, beautifully formed and clean. Her watch was unbroken!

We passed her through my lets onto a stretcher behind. She was covered reverently and taken away. They were the last people to be got out.