From The Editor

During Rememberence Week, we take a look at what Tooting was like during World War Two thanks to one former resident

Shirley Webster lived in Tooting before and during World War Two though she was also billeted outside London as many children were. She is currently writing a children's book based on her wartime experiences. She very kindly gave me a glimpse of what Tooting was like during the bombing and has promised to tell us more. It's appropriate that we should publish this first extract now, given that this is Remembrance Week.

"The lower half of Selling Court Road and the whole of Nutwell was flattened. That is why there are blocks of flats there now. In 1939 The lower half of Sellingcourt and Nutley consisted of flats, just like Bickley Street. Also the Broadway was hit by incendiaries. I remember the shops from the Granada up to Mellison Street being in flames. I can’t remember the rest of Tooting except there would be blast damage from the bombs. I know a v2 dropped somewhere behind the junction, because my mother and I had just got off the tram at Amen Corner, during a lull of the bombing the night before, and my mother threw me down on the ground and covered me with her body. We both survived, but I remember people on the other side of the road caught up in the blast, and I saw a lady sitting on a wall with bleeding legs, the skin completely gone".

If you have any stories about Tooting during the war, please send them to me.

From The Editor

During Rememberence Week, we take a look at what Tooting was like during World War Two thanks to one former resident

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