(Ebook) Your Towns & Cities In World War Two - Essex At War 1939 – 45 by Frances Clamp ISBN 9781473860414, 1473860415

(Ebook) Your Towns & Cities In World War Two - Essex At War 1939 – 45 by Frances Clamp ISBN 9781473860414, 1473860415

Although much maligned, Essex is a vibrant county with a long and exciting history. Being close to the Continent and with one of Britain's longest coastlines, it was an obvious target for invasion as the threat of war grew. Many defensive structures were built by the sea and to protect major routes across the county. The remains of pill boxes can still be seen to this day. Essex at War 1939 - 45 tells how the war greatly affected the countryside inside this area: children were evacuated both to and from Essex; being close to London the county suffered from regular air attacks; farming was important and the Womens Land Army arrived in force. Accounts of Essex airmen and sailors who supported those escaping from Dunkirk are told, and once the USA entered the war there was a new type of invasion in the county when their servicemen arrived and were welcomed at many of the county's airfields and pubs. Memories of children growing up during those difficult years are recalled. These include nights spent in cold, damp Anderson shelters, sleeping under solid tables or in claustrophobic Morrison shelters. We learn about disrupted school lessons and the fear felt when the air raid siren wailed. When the V-1 unmanned flying bomb and the later V-2 rocket campaigns were launched in 1944, many still remember all these years later listening for the distinctive sounding engine to stop and to start counting the seconds until the V-1 fell to earth and wondered is it our turn to die or will it be someone else again.