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A Bomb in a Basket
A Bomb in a Basket recounts the six years of the Second World War, as seen through the author's eyes when he was a young boy. The author details his impression not only of the specific life in Plymouth, a city affected quite considerably both by the German bombing and by the involvement of the whole community, through its sailors and dockyard, with the war, but also the general life of that time.
The first part of the book covers the atmosphere in Plymouth during the so called phoney war period and the effects events such as the sinking of the battleship Royal Oak and the aircraft carriers Courageous and Glorious had on the local community.
Following the conquest of France by Hitler, the Germans were able to use French air bases as a springboard for action and so Plymouth, being one of the south coast ports, found itself in the front line. The author graphically describes the blitz on the city and the bombing of his home as well as the school he was attending at the time and fleeing across the river to the waterside hamlet of Southdown. The author and his sister were later evacuated to the country where they savoured rustic life to the full. However, their supposedly safe haven in Cornwall itself was bombed and the two children were moved once again to Wales.
Returning to Plymouth in April 1942 where many of the schools had been bombed the author enjoyed a period without formal education. The closing chapters of the book are concerned with the flooding of Plymouth with American Servicemen, the D Day landings Servicemen, the D Day landings in which the author's father nearly loses his life and the celebration of VE and VJ days.
The first part of the book covers the atmosphere in Plymouth during the so called phoney war period and the effects events such as the sinking of the battleship Royal Oak and the aircraft carriers Courageous and Glorious had on the local community.
Following the conquest of France by Hitler, the Germans were able to use French air bases as a springboard for action and so Plymouth, being one of the south coast ports, found itself in the front line. The author graphically describes the blitz on the city and the bombing of his home as well as the school he was attending at the time and fleeing across the river to the waterside hamlet of Southdown. The author and his sister were later evacuated to the country where they savoured rustic life to the full. However, their supposedly safe haven in Cornwall itself was bombed and the two children were moved once again to Wales.
Returning to Plymouth in April 1942 where many of the schools had been bombed the author enjoyed a period without formal education. The closing chapters of the book are concerned with the flooding of Plymouth with American Servicemen, the D Day landings Servicemen, the D Day landings in which the author's father nearly loses his life and the celebration of VE and VJ days.
153 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2005
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October 18, 2017
A very readable account of a family during the years of WWII (mainly spent in Plymouth, with the odd sojourn in Cornwall and Wales) as seen through the eyes of a child, young Peter. I really enjoyed it, and a familiarity with the places mentioned made it all the more interesting.
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