Home Front Girls

my editor friend, first thing in the morning. I know he’s longing to read the rest of it, and between you and me, by the time you come next week I have a funny feeling I might have good news for you.’
    Dotty felt bereft as he stepped onto the train after giving her a quick hug. Then he appeared in a carriage window and she waved until she felt as if her arm was about to drop off.
    ‘Until next week,’ he mouthed through the glass as the train chugged back into life. And then she was walking and running alongside it until she reached the end of the platform and the train disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
    She moved disconsolately to the entrance and headed for the bus station, but she had gone no further than a few hundred yards when a piercing siren sounded. People were panicking and scattering in every direction as they rushed for cover, and it was then that she realised what the sound was: one that the people of Coventry had hoped never to hear. The siren was warning them that an air raid was imminent. For a moment Dotty was rooted to the spot and strangely her first fear was for Robert. A moving train on an open track would be an easy target from the air, and were the Jerries to drop a bomb on it, the people inside would stand no chance. But then surely they would be targeting the factories?
    As her footsteps slowed, someone suddenly grabbed her elbow and barked, ‘Come wi’ me, love. There’s a shelter just down ’ere as will ’ouse at least a hundred people.’
    Dotty made to pull away as panic engulfed her, but the man hauled her along as if she weighed no more than a feather and soon he was shoving her ahead of him into a dimly lit space that seemed to be full to overflowing with terrified people all talking and crying.
    As Dotty’s eyes adjusted to the light she saw a young woman with a baby clutched tightly to her chest with tears streaming down her cheeks. There were people of all shapes, sizes and ages, but fear was on all their faces. The siren seemed to rip through every part of her, setting her nerves jangling – but then suddenly another noise sounded and leaning forward she stared up into the sky to see a large dark mass fast approaching high above. For a start it appeared like an enormous swarm of bumblebees, but as it drew closer the drone became louder and she saw that it was enemy planes.
    ‘Shut the door, for Christ’s sake,’ someone shouted from the back of the shelter and instantly two men leaped forward and there was a loud clang as the metal door slammed shut. Every sound was magnified as Dotty found herself in total darkness and she put her hands out wildly until they connected with another person. Then someone started to light some candles and suddenly the darkness was not quite so all-consuming. At the same instant, the ack-ack guns roared into life as they tried to intercept the enemy. Dotty clapped her hands over her ears and shrank against the wall as she prayed for the raid to end. And yet deep down she wondered if this was only the beginning.

Chapter Twenty
     
    Time became irrelevant as the people in the shelter sat whitefaced, wondering if they would ever get out of there in one piece. And if they did, what would they be going out to? Would their homes still be standing, their loved ones still alive?
    And then the sound of an enormous explosion reached them, followed shortly by another and then another.
    No one could have any idea what was being targeted, but one man muttered, ‘God help us, some poor buggers are coppin’ it.’
    ‘Looks like it’s our turn now,’ someone else said fearfully. ‘They must be givin’ them poor sods in London a night off.’
    Dotty wrapped her arms about herself as her thoughts returned to Robert. London had been under attack for weeks and she worried about him every single day, although up to now the Germans had been targeting the docks and the East End. The first wave of bombs had hit the Royal Victoria Docks, and soon after the East and West India Docks had become prey to the Messerschmitts and Heinkels that had now become a far too familiar sight in the skies above London. Madame Tussaud’s had also been destroyed. The Tower of London had been hit, though not too badly, and some of the West End shops had also suffered damage. She wondered what Robert would be going home to.
    There was nothing to be heard within the sanctuary; everyone was holding their breath, and as they stood huddled there in the semi-darkness, two more