UNDER FIRE

I wonder whether your readers have any records or memories regarding an incident that occurred during World War II.

In 1944, when I was two years old, my mother, my two sisters and I were evacuated from Hayes in Kent because of the V2 rockets. We lived three miles from Biggin Hill Fighter Aerodrome and were in direct line of Hitler’s V2s. We were to be sent to live in Nantwich, Cheshire.

The train from Euston (LMS, I think) was attacked by a German fighter plane and badly strafed with machine-gun fire. My

mother, my sisters and I were sitting in the corridor and I remember we were sitting on our suitcases. I can recall seeing the dead and injured servicemen, blood and broken glass strewn everywhere. But all was followed by an eerie silence.

My father, at home when work and Home Guard duties allowed, was kept waiting for weeks for any news of us and our survival. News of the attack had filtered back down to

Hayes, despite the censors.

Should anyone have any information for me, I should be grateful to hear from you. Colin Bailey, Ilminster,

Somerset