22nd April 1941 Plymouth badly blitzed

Sirens wailed at 10pm. Soon we counted dozen bangs, bombs and AA guns in Exeter district. Marion still in bed with a cold, refused to go to shelter and said " I am just as safe in bed instead of shivering in the hall but you come into my bed and we will defy the Jerrys together.
We both lay perfectly quite listening to them roar overhead. I stayed awake till all clear at 3.30 Marion slept from midnight till 10.am next morning. I woke at 9am Mr Truman showed us a piece of last night's bomb, they went to see the damage which was nearer to us than the airport this time. While they were up there a time bomb that had been sandbagged went off. Plymouth was badly blitzed too, daddy saw one flash after another over there between 10 and 12. Marion hugged the breath out of me this evening and said.. "sometimes my love for you overcomes me and it surges out you see because I do not let it out as a routine!" Here they had eight time bombs near airport three went off in course of today with big bangs.

21st April 1941 London attacked again

No raid for us but poor London was attacked again. We had war pudding yesterday, sago made with half milk (it is rationed), half water, Sucron (in place of sugar) Lemon O (in place of lemon) there is also Sugar O and Onion O.
Mr Truman saw a German bomber brought down in flames at midnight, just back of our house, way off on the horizon. later it was learnt two of the crew escaped by parachute, one was only a boy of 17 on the point of collapse. Marion has composed the following verse on her literary mother...
When my mother's genius burns,
And the electric button turns,
When the light is lit, cause of writing fit,
Then I cannot sleep,
The disturbance is too deep!
In fact Marion is suffering from Beryl-itis, a new kind disease, the germ of which develops in our house! She expects me to write a chapter of my book Beryl every day and read it to her. The leaves of the chestnut tree are beginning to unfold and the plums are in full blossom, but weather will not settle. Big Ann said today. "They say if you can stand the English climate you can stand anything" A little girl we know here aged 5 and called baby Marion has mastoiditis and has had to operated on in a Birmingham hospital they so often get blitzed in that city. A self evacuated lady from Bristol with a great Dane and two Dachshunds, just came past and said in Bristol they get so used to bombardment they just go to bed as one cannot do anything anyway. She said noise of AA guns was worse than noise of bombs.

20th April 1941

Hitler's birthday, another raid free night here.

19th April 1941

Another raid free night for us but not for London.

18th April 1941

Raid free night. One is always so astonished to get awake in the morning! Ann Camp our evacuee, just had a letter from her sister in London. She wrote blitz was terrible, lasted 9 hours non stop, but London is carrying on, she adds and I am just off to work as usual. Last night went to great trouble trying to get the dining room table in to Marion's room to put over her bed to protect her. Unfortunately it would not go and to Marion's great merriment, we got stuck with it in her doorway so had to take it back.

17th April 1941

Last night Bertie having been in Exeter went to bed at 10.00pm and fell asleep. I had been in bed since 9, at 10.00pm sirens, so I pulled string of bell which Bertie has now hung between our rooms. Up he got, 15 minutes later all clear back he went to bed to be awakened by an alert at 3 am I slept till 4.am when AA gunfire woke me, At 5.am all was quiet and we went to sleep once more. Heard London had a terrible raid last night, our papers have not come yet at 10.am Up til now always come at 8 am. From middle of February till middle of March London had 18 nights raid free, Bertie asked me if I would consent to Snooksie [Marion] going to USA if he arranged for a passage for her on a Clipper. I refused so of course if anything happens I will get the blame. I cannot imagine the poor child i USA and I over here, unable to take care of her. Just heard our fire engine went to a fire in Honiton and fell into a crater on the way. Nobody was hurt. Anthea came to enquire after Marion said she Mary and Gilly slept under dining room table, their mother and others went under the stairs. Ann came also and said they had spent part of time in toy cupboard under stairs, then went upstairs again and again came down. What a life for the children.

16th April 1941 6 Jerries down!

Sirens from 10pm. All clear at 5.30am Planes overhead all the time, by glow on side of Woodbury Common our neighbours who remained in garden till 12.30am saw a plane crash in flames [we got 6 Jerries down] and also an oil bomb drop. This they thought fell on our Countess Weir gold links but later turned out to some 4 miles other side of Exeter. Plum trees all in blossom, bulbs coming out, bought some rose trees, Godetia and Clarkia seeds sprouting.

15th April 1941

Marion had a good laugh over another chapter of my story, especially when Daddy understood "stately miaou" instead of "stately mien", also when I got mixed up in reading the word "ynominious" Sirens at 11.00pm 2.00 am and 4.00am I did not hear the last two as I was very tired. weather still cold and blustery. Marion has a 101 temperature.

14th April 1941 Easter Monday

Easter Monday. What a night! four alerts , after second one at 11.00pm the sky lit up over airport after a Jerry had flown there very low. The glare illuminated our house, like moonlight and fire engine went racing past. The last alert was at 4.30am when a number of bombs fell around airport, meanwhile a big fire was set burning near Woodbury common. During all this ARP wardens would walk past the gate and stop for a chat. The Woodbury Common was not caused by Jerry but he came along later and dropped bombs on it which did no damage. Marion had a sore throat.

13th April 1941

At 11.30pm last night 3 bangs immediately, almost at the same time the all clear sounded. was just getting my feet back into bed when 3 more bangs sounded and Daddy who had gone into garden saw 3 flashes in the sky. So far we have not heard explanation of the mystery. Our milkman is a special constable and usually can give one the previous night's news. hope to go to church this Sunday morning for Easter Sunday, if Hitler permits and the sirens do not go. Milkman just been, said it was airport and coast bombs fell on. When Daddy asked how it was all clear sounded at the precise moment he replied "Oh he was a smart bloke and was just waiting for it!" Could not have imagined that under the circumstances people could keep up their spirits like they do. There is no doubt about it, the English are a calm race.

12th April 1941

Ann Pyne told us the night the bombs fell on airport that her parents "bundled me down stairs into the shelter"... "which is a toy cupboard under the stairs" she added
2pm sirens. My book continues malgre moi,[despite me] it has a way of taking me by the hands and pulling me along with it. Just before I began it I had the feeling as if something was about to burst out of me, rather like an eggshell must feel when the chicken is ready to come out of it! I wonder if the publisher will think it a good or bad thing that my story came out of me? As each chapter gets finished I read it to marion and her father and I watch her reactions. During one scene she began to gett wriggly which we considered a good sign for the book. Am just going to bed and listening for the sirens, so as to warn the others who are playing the piano. Sirens just went at 9.pm. Last night I was awakened at2.pm by the sound of machine gunning. Heard today it was airport being machine gunned.