Brighton Road bus station bomb damage

"I had only just returned from being evacuated and a few weeks later this happened.

"At the age of 14 I returned to Croydon I and started work in April 1941 at Carrington Manufacturing Company.

"During the raids at night, my family went to the public shelter. But my dad and I preferred to stay at home at 11 Napier Road in our Anderson shelter in the garden, 12ft from the bus garage wall.

"When the bombs exploded, the wall collapsed on to our shelter and some earth fell on me where I was laying on the end bunk.

"A ball of fire had rolled up the garden to the house and realised I was on my own, dad having gone in to bed. I was terrified.

"The next thing I remember is my dad pulling me out of the shelter. The house was on fire. We ran up Sanderstead Road to get to the park shelter, but this was not possible as the Cameo was a blaze.

"Canisters were exploding, the gutters were on fire as paint and other substances ran down the kerb. We finally made it to the shelter in the little park in St Augustine's Road.

"We lost our home and everything. My sister on leave from the WAAF's was interviewed by a newspaper reporter.

"My thanks and admiration went to the Salvation Army, which gave me a complete set of clothing. 1 am now aged 77 but I have never forgotten one minute of that terrible ordeal."