Our night out when we put on the Blitz!

DURInG the war, I lived in the Lewis Building in Islington, north London. One afternoon my grandad suggested we should visit Uncle stan, who worked and lived in the house of Commons. along with my mother and two sisters — Doreen and sheila, who looked just like Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, being of the same age — we were escorted from the front gate to his apartment by a policeman. During the visit we were taken on a tour of the lower rooms of the Commons, where Winston Churchill had his office. We were even given one of his cigars to take home for our father. as we were about to leave, the air-raid siren sounded and it was thought too dangerous for us to be taken home, so we stayed overnight. Later that evening, another raid started and Uncle stan took us onto the balcony overlooking the Thames, where we watched planes flying over, bombs being dropped, searchlights flashing across the sky and a barrage balloon falling into the Thames on fire. It was a night I will never forget, though I was too young to appreciate the sadness of war. But life went on — and Big Ben, at present silenced, still continued to chime!

Mavis ring, Chelmsford, Essex.