- Contributed by
- Philip Jones
- People in story:
- Philip Jones
- Location of story:
- Hertfordshire
- Article ID:
- A1155250
- Contributed on:
- 25 August 2003
In early 1942 aged eight and a half my brotherand I were sent to a boarding school in the country approx 8 to 10 miles from Hertford as our parents felt it was safer than being in London. The school was based on a Victorian mansion which had a stable block situated on top of a rise. This block which had been converted to classrooms had a slate roof which in moonlight gleamed brightly and it was a rumour among the boys at the school that the German bombers coming from the East used it as a land mark to turn due South for London.
About five years after the end of the war I read Winston Churchill's "History of World War II" in which writing of the London Blitz he mentioned that the German bombers flew westwards along a radio beam until they picked up the roof of a school whereupon they turned southwards to London.
Subsequently using an OS map I checked this and found that broadly speaking the school was due North of the City of London and the Docks area. So there must have been some truth in the rumour
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