Eileen Dowsett
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Not Available
The following story was taken from an interview conducted by Miss Sara Sandwick, a student at Ordean Middle School and granddaughter of Ms. Dowsett. The narrative tells the story of Eileen's experience as a child during World War II. Eileen Dowsett lived in southern England during World War II in a small village near the Thames River. The German bombers would frequently fly up the river and drop bombs as they made their way to London.
Sara asked, "How did you keep protected from bombs during the war?" Eileen told her, "Many children of the village were separated from their families and sent to safer parts of the country. My father wanted to keep the family together." He built a dugout in the ground for his family's protection. Often at night sirens would go off warning them of German planes. They would then "go into the dug-out and stay there until the bombing raids were over."
Eileen also talked about school; students carried gas masks with them everyday.
Another thing Eileen remembered well was the German Doodlebug, a flying bomb. "The early type gave out a horrible erie sound. We always held our breath hoping those going over would keep making that sound because when the sound stopped, you knew it was dropping."
Sara then asked her grandmother, "How did you find out that the war had ended and that there would be no more bombs?"
"Church bells started ringing and our Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, announced on the radio that the war was over and that Germany had been defeated."
