A bomber over Walsall

"In those days we all went home at lunch-time and all the mothers were waiting for their children because none of the mothers worked in those days.

"Suddenly this German bomber came over, very low. I can see it now. It is one of my earliest memories.

"I can see the black crosses on its wings and I can see all the mothers in their colourful summer dresses and the children, screaming and not knowing which way to run because the bomber was so low.

"A lady from a house nearby came across to my mother and said, Come into my house, you can always come in here,'

"But by then the bomber was gone. I think it went on to bomb the gas works at Walsall.

"Strangely enough, after the war we went on to live in Germany and make friends with lots of German people.

"My husband, David, was a military policeman and were were stationed in Dortmund and Herford in the 1960s. Herford was still a bit anti-British but all the people I worked with were very friendly.

"Because we didn't have any children then we were living among the civilian population and so we learned to speak the language.

"I can still speak the German I learned then and we went last year to visit our friends over there. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?"