WW2 Barrage Balloons.."in silence we serve"..click to enlarge

War was declared on Germany on September 3 1939. I was just over eleven years old and we lived at  Clive Lane, Filton, about five miles north of the centre of Bristol, only a hundred yards or so from the Bristol Aeroplane Company aircraft and engine works (now British Aerospace). My father worked in the engine works at Patchway , (now Rolls Royce).

Click to hear war declared by Neville Chamberlain. (385kb .wav)

It seemed only days later that platoons of soldiers were marching up and down the main road to Bristol and Gloucester and the first were stationed around Bristol. A barrage balloon camp was established at Home farm , only a couple of hundred yards from our house.

The Royal Air force personnel were housed in bell-tents and we used to sit with them and be given cups of tea etc. It was my first experience of a bell-tent and to me they seemed so big, yet warm and cozy.

The first air raid sirens were installed and tested and were in use with the first activity of German aircraft. We soon got used to them and often didn't take any notice. We were next issued with our own Anderson shelter which was a very strong corrugated iron structure, about six feet by eight feet, with an arched roof and a small doorway at the front. These shelters were self-assembly and designed to be half submerged under garden level. This meant digging a large hole and the soil excavated was piled on the top. I can't remember digging the hole. Dad probably did it when we were at school - he at the time was on permanent nights at Patchway. The Anderson shelter was not too successful as most of them seemed to be half full of water most of the time and few were used regularly.

The air raid siren alert (alternate high and low pitch for alert) would often go off at night, but we would usually stay in bed. When the all clear sounded (a sustained high pitch) the engine  works would play "Colonel Bogey"  over the tannoy, which to this day reminds me of the Patchway works and the air raid all clear.

Click to hear the tune "Colonel Bogey". (42kb .midi)

School and everyday life seemed fairly ordinary and normal for us children, except for the air raid sirens going off quite regularly day and night. We became quite used to the routine and were completely unaware of the inherent danger of living alongside a large aircraft and engine factory which were obvious targets for a major German air raid.

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Deploying barrage balloons.

Emerging from Anderson shelter after air raid.

Children entering Anderson shelter.