Diary of a teenager, 1943

These diary extracts were written by A Simmonds, then a teenaged boy.

Taken from 'Brighton behind the Front'.

21.5.43
Evening. Phew! Daddy, Denny and I put up the Morrison Shelter. What a job - my hat!

25.5.43
A.M. at about 12.15 Brighton had it's worst raid yet. 25 planes came over machine gunning and bombing. I was having Geography and had to get under the desk - I saw one Jerry ('Jerry' was a World War II-era nickname for Nazi Germany or its armed forces)swoop past our window. I was really scared. One boy went absolutely green. The house opposite was gunned. At home Mummy got very scared and went under the shelter. Daddy, walking home, rushed inside a shop after seeing bombs fall out of several planes. Bombs were dropped at: top of Eaton Place, Chichester Place, the other side of the Hospital in Eastern Road (about 200 yards from here) which was the worst, Bennett Road (near Whitehawk), St Mark's school, ... the gas works, all our gas went, the flats at Black Rock (where we were on Sunday) and where a soldier on the roof was blown out to sea with his gun, the viaduct in London Road (1 span was destroyed) ... Arundel Road caught it, and Hove was machine gunned. Evening. I toured around the damage - it was awful.

29.5.43
Coming back on a no. 4 trolley bus we saw the funeral of the 2 children killed in Down Terrace, behind our school. And I saw 4 Jerry vapour trails.

6.6.43
The family went for a tour of the bomb damage. Gosh! Those gas works are terrible; so are the flats.

7.10.43
Just as the new series of Tommy Handley was beginning, Wailing Willy, or Moaning Minny went (other names for the air raid warning siren). We went in the shelter when we heard Jerry. Then about 9 o'clock he dived. There was terrific gun fire. Some bombs may have been dropped - I don't know. All Clear went at 11 o'clock . Wow! what a long siren.

16.10.43
We had another night of it tonight. The siren went at 7:30 . The all clear went - the siren went again - the all clear went again and as there is gunfire now, I have reason to believe the siren's gone again.

17.10.43
Wow! I'm fed up. At 2 o'clock morning the W.W. (siren) went and we went down S (shelter). Then at 8 am another W.W. went and heavy gunfire.

18.10.43
What a day. Last night Herr Jerry came over again we went down shelter.

21.10.43
Again last night our at about 1 am our sleep was disturbed. J (Jerry) came over, there was heavy G and we went down S.

22.10.43
H.J. came early tonight and 2 sirens went at different times in the evening. A good many J's came over and dropped a bomb in Bonchurch Road . Why don't they leave us alone?