AUTHOR and former airforce gunner Eric Edis has written to the Waltham Forest Guardian describing his time in London during the blitz.

Mr Edis, 84, who now lives in Oak Hill Court, Woodford Green, was born in Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow, and at the time of the experiences recorded here was aged 14 and living in Edward Road.

He later joined the airforce and served as a tailgunner for five years before going into business and then setting up as a driving instructor.

In his retirement, Mr Edis became a published author with his book The Impossible Takes a Little Longer, about his experiences of driving a Land Rover from London to Australia in 1957. It is available at amazon.co.uk.

THE BLITZ

"AS a fourteen-year-old boy, I saw the blitzkrieg on London as a great adventure. My poor mother had great difficulty getting me into the air raid shelter when a raid was taking place as I didn’t want to miss one minute of what was going on outside. I wanted to help in any way I could, should the occasion arise.

My father, who was a hospital worker at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, was almost continually on duty there at night during the air raids, so I saw myself as the man of the house with a responsibility to protect my mother and three sisters from whatever was to come our way. My other five sisters had all been evacuated.

I had at the time taken early precautions. Just in case a fire bomb had our name on it I dug up the garden and prepared a large mound of loose soil, which could be used to throw on to the bomb to subdue it. I had the dustbin lid nearby, in which to carry the soil.

One night, about 8.30, I was able to activate my plan. An incendiary bomb dropped three feet away from the front door. I rushed through to the garden, scooped up the soil with my dustbin lid and covered the bomb with the soil, but that was only the beginning of my exciting night.

As I looked across to the other side of the road, I saw, by its very bright light, the flickering of burning magnesium. I knew straight away that a bomb had gone through a neighbour's roof into their front room.

I dashed through the house with my dustbin lid in hand, quickly refilled it with soil then ran across the road to my next bomb. I was a bit worried, however, whether I should kick the neighbour's door open, as they were down in their garden shelter.

I didn’t worry for too long: one hefty kick and the door flew open. As I dashed up the stairs, there was a small explosion from the bomb which had caused a few other small fires. I was able to deal with them OK and treat the bomb with my lid full of soil.

When I left the house my breathing was badly affected by the fumes from the magnesium and sulphur. I had to lay down on the pavement for a while, before crossing the road again to my home.

I did not tell the neighbours in the shelter that the bomb had gone through their roof or that I had dealt with it, and put out the fires. I was more worried that they would be angry with me for breaking the lock on their front door."