German Luftwaffe reconnaissance photo of the Filton area.

September 25 1940 is a day that will live in my memory forever. It was a beautiful sunny warm day and we were still at home for the summer holidays. After breakfast as usual Ralph and I went out to play, leaving mum at home with a younger sister. Ralph being five years younger then me was rather a drag on my freedom. I used to try and slip away on my own, but mum would usually notice and say "Tom , take Ralph with you".

Sometimes I would get to the end of the back garden and was just opening the gate to slide away when mum's voice would shout out from the back doorstep "Tooooom, wait for Ralph!". What a pain it was to have a younger brother tagging along all the time.

I already had two of my sisters evacuated with an Aunt . My elder sister had left home to take some extra clothes to them. Dad was at Filton. Although he was working nights at Rolls Royce, he also had a morning job delivering bread for a local bakery. Ralph and I decided to "go down the polo field" as we used to say which borders the barbed wire boundary fence of the Bristol Aero plane Company engine works - now Rolls Royce. We used to spend many hours in the field climbing trees etc and in one big tree we had lashed up a super swing which looking back must have been quite dicey as we would swing out from quite a high branch.

The polo field is still there today known as the Combination Rugby Ground - owned by Bristol Rugby Club. On this particular day, September 25th , we were walking alongside the ditch adjacent to the barbed wire fence to Rolls Royce - generally mooching around. The other side of the barbed wire fence were the aircraft engine test beds. These were quite large brick built, cube shaped, windowless buildings, which were supposed to muffle the sound of the engines being tested. From our house you could clearly hear the drone of engines, particularly at night - the testing was non-stop, twenty four hours, night and day.

Being very used to them when not much ever happened during the day, we carried on walking slowly alongside the ditch which had about of foot of water running through. After a few minutes we heard aircraft approaching and we knew straightaway they were German aircraft.

After twelve months of war we would instantly know the difference between the sound of German aircraft and British aircraft. German aircraft engines had a distinctive droning sound. I said to Ralph, with both of us looking up into the clear blue sky "where are they? Can you see them?" We both looked up, squinting with the sun, but still couldn't see them.

In a split second I was on my feet and we went to the edge of the ditch, but didn't fancy jumping into the mucky water. Ralph half jumped and fell forward into a bed of tall stinging nettles and rapidly leapt back again yelling and rubbing his hands up and down his legs, but the noise drowned his cries as he looked around wondering what was happening (as you can imagine he has never forgotten it!)

As we were wondering what to do and where to run, Rolls Royce workers from the engine test beds a few yard the other side of the barbed wire fence came running to the fence and started to climb over. They were frightened and panicking and were frantically trying to climb over the barbed wire as fast as possible and at the same time cutting their hands and legs and shredding their trouser legs. With bleeding hands etc, they shouted to us to follow them and we ran about 50 yards to a small brick tunnel which carried the water from the stream under the embankment.

On top of the embankment, immediately above us, was an army anti-aircraft artillery unit.. There were almighty bangs, explosions, AA gunfire etc. The raid was over in minutes and over 350 bombs were dropped . Standing in the tunnel we stood with our backs pressed against the curved brick wall with our feet just clear of the water streaming through. There must have been about twenty men from the works and we stood shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly there was a deathly hush.

The man standing at the entrance crept out and we all followed. Ralph and I thought "lets get home" We climbed up the embankment and came face to face with the soldiers in the AA unit. They looked surprised and asked "Where the hell have you come from?" We pointed back down the embankment and still shaking said 'in the tunnel'. "Where do you live?" one asked and I said "Clive Lane" and pointed in the direction of our home. "Come with me" one of them said and took us in hand and we started off home.

German Heinkel bombers over Bristol...click to enlarge.

Click here to hear a German plane. (40kb .wav file)

A British p51 fighter plane...click to enlarge.

Click here to hear a P51 fighter plane fly-by. (44kb .wav file)

A British Spitfire ...click to enlarge.

Click here to hear a Spitfire. (138kb .wav file)