Happy Days

A Memory of Westward Ho!.

My father was in the Home Guard during the Second World War, and we three children spent our school holidays with him at Westward Ho!. My sister says we travelled to Bideford and then by gas bus to Westward Ho!. Daddy had a flat in the old naval officers school. We spent glorious days on the beach, although you could only use part of it, because it was mined. Sometimes a siren went off, and we would have to run home and open the windows when they were exploding a mine, this was to prevent the windows shattering. There was a swimming pool built in the rocks, which is still there. The tide would go out for miles, and people often lost the clothes they left on the beach as the tide swept in so swifly and caught them unawares. A firework factory blew up one day, and the fire was horrendous with fireworkds going off and loud explosions. We stood on the balcony of our flat and watched for hours. We made a lot of friends, and if anyone remembers Peter, Ann and Mary Buckle, do let me know.

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