out in force as ambulances tore past them, their bells urgent. Nothing could have prepared Lizzie for this. It was as if the girl next to her read her thoughts.
‘God, this is awful. I understand why the Germans would want to take out our airfields. But everyday people? What’s the point of that?’ she said as they observed a young boy being stretchered from a house that had taken some bomb damage.
Because of the piles of rubble in the road and the many diversions due to dangerous bomb sites, it took them a while to get back to the airfield itself. But as they got closer, Lizzie caught her breath because even from a distance she could see the smoke and fires from the Croydon barracks. At the main gate, the guard informed them that many buildings had taken a direct hit and to be very careful as they made their way inside. The girl driving dropped her at the gate, and as she hurried towards her room, Lizzie passed the mess hall where they ate on the way, which had been levelled to the ground. As she turned the corner to where her barracks had been, she stopped in her tracks because instead of her room she was greeted by a pile of ash and blackened wood, smoke and a fire still blazing, firemen already around it, dousing water onto the flames. It took a minute for it to sink in what had happened.
Even though she’d been trained to expect the worst and to work under pressure, she was grief-stricken; this was the first thing that had affected her personally. As she watched the barracks burning to the ground, she thought about everything inside, all her clothes, her personal things, the blanket she had received that morning from Fiona, her photographs from Scotland. Then, she remembered with a sinking heart, she’d had letters from her aunt and her uncle the day before, and too tired last night to read them, she’d saved them to read later on after dinner tonight. Now she would never know the words in those letters. She also wondered about any other post that may have arrived today, the much-anticipated letter she had been waiting for for so long from the orphanage. What a cruel twist of fate if today had been the day it had arrived.
One of her barrack mates appeared and put her arm around her.
‘Horrible, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘Damn Germans. Wheaton wants us all to go over to the primary office for a briefing.’
As many of them huddled together in the office, word having spread fast about the devastation, they were told that while they were being rehoused, they would have to find somewhere else to stay. With nowhere here for them to eat, the air force would try and put as many up in other barracks like Kenley as they could, but if anybody had friends or family in the London area, this would be a good time to go and find a couch to sleep on. Lizzie naturally thought of Julia and wondered if she’d be willing to put her up.
Getting the bus to Julia’s, she sat looking numbly out of the window trying to come to terms with it all. Yes, it was only things, not people or friends, but the sudden loss felt acute, as if she had been robbed, and suddenly Lizzie felt very lonely and a long way from home. Would she be able to do this? How would she feel if it was someone she cared about?
Julia was surprised to see her on the doorstep.
‘I thought you were on duty for the next three days.’
Lizzie followed her into the kitchen. ‘I was, but my barracks got hit today, and everything’s gone.’ Only then did her lips start to tremble as the shock of what she’d seen sank in.
Julia came and put her arms around her. ‘Lizzie, I’m so sorry.’
‘At least everybody was okay,’ said Lizzie through her sobs. ‘We were all accounted for, and most of us were out working when it happened. The few that were off duty were in other places, but still, it’s horrible to see.’
‘Of course,’ said Julia.
‘They’ve asked if I could find somewhere to stay, so I was wondering…’
‘I insist you stay here,’ responded Julia. ‘Don’t think any more about it.’
‘Hopefully, we’ll get rehoused soon, but if you don’t mind, that’d be wonderful.’
‘Stay as long as you want. It will be lovely to have the company.’