BUZZ BOMBS

There are several stories I could tell about German V-1
or Buzz Bombs over London. Although they did a lot of
physical damage, I think the greatest effect on the English
people was the psycological effect. They were the cause of a
whole new society of people who lived under ground in the
extensive subways under London. People who had never known
each other were sharing food and blankets on the train
platforms under ground. You could hardly walk to the trains
at night for the people sleeping on the platforms by the
trains. I don't know if the Germans knew what effect these
had but they were very effective in demoralizing the
population of London.
A man by the name of Martin was our right waist gunner.
He had been born in Texas as I had so it was natural that we
buddied up on our visits to London. Martin at that time was
married with two children and living in in California. One
week end we met two girls who were secretaries in an office
in London so we took them to lunch and a show one afternoon.
As we were coming back to their office we heard the putt-putt
of a Buzz-bomb coming our way. The girls wanted to run up
close to buildings but we caught them and took them to the
middle of the street to get away from glass windows. The
bomb's engine shut down just over us and glidded several
blocks away from us. After that we were invited to sleep in
the girls apartment whenever we were in London. They always
stayed with their folks in a bomb shelter. We slept in their
good beds. We were too young and dumb to be scared.
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