I well remember the fire bomb raid that destroyed many large shops along the High Street. The country was unprepared for this new type of bombing. The small incendiary bombs were dropped in large numbers, smashed through tiled roofs and went off in the loft spaces often used for storage. Before anyone was aware the shops were ablaze. Following this the system of fire watchers was set up to guard buildings which were otherwise empty at night. Older school boys took turns to spend nights protecting their schools.
I was seven and my father had decided to get me away to somewhere safer. By coincidence we were setting out the morning after the raid took place and we picked our way over a maze of fire hoses to get to Hounslow East station.
Masses of broken timber recovered from bomb sites were held as a huge pile on open ground at Bridge Road. People could take this to use as fuel. The whole lot went up in flames from the bombs!
Our trip to look for safety was unsuccessful and we came back to the bombs that evening.
Incidentally the Dentist cum filmmaker, Dr Mandeville was my Father’s dentist and my Father was an air raid warden.