107/5 Childhood Memories a photographic history of Dr Barnardo's

FLASHBACK

When the. Germans made their reprisal raid on the historic city of Exeter in the early summer of 1942, among the beautiful things they destroyed was the Exeter branch of Barnardo's Homes. Exeter, of course, was regarded as an evacuation area and previously had experienced few alarms. But on that fatal night, as soon as the wail of the sirens was heard, our lady superintendent shepherded her entire family into the strongly constructed shelter that had been provided for them, the girls dressed in their night attire each carrying their own little bundle of clothing.

When the noise of the raid began to grow acute she started community singing. Then suddenly, above the noise of the singing was heard an ominous whine and then a terrific crash that told even the children something appalling was happening.

It was later found that the bomb had fallen so close that the crater was only five yards away from the shelter, the thick concrete of which was cracked right through. It had missed the home itself by a few feet, but the force of the explosion had wrecked the building, blowing the roof right off, forcing out the windows and doors and scattering the contents far and wide. We record with deep gratitude to God that the only 'casualty' was one little girl with a scratched knee ....

About five miles out of Exeter, at Bickham, Kenford, is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fradgeley, who had already given up part of their house to provide evacuation quarters for a party of 20 of our children. No sooner did they hear of the disaster at Exeter than they volunteered to take the entire family until other arrangements could be made.

Meantime the members of our staff who remained at Exeter, headed by the gardener, Mr Morrish, rendered invaluable help in salvaging everything possible from the house, running risks that horrified our architect when he arrived later and saw the condition of the building. They saved clothing and household goods worth hundreds of pounds including many items exceedingly difficult to replace.

From Night and Day, Spring 1942