Emotional return to bombed school

A WARRINGTON writer made a return visit to the school where he was trapped for seven hours in the rubble after a World War 2 bombing raid.
Eric Brady made the emotional trip to Sandhurst Road School in London, where he was injured and his older sister Kitty was killed as the bomb hit on January 20 1943.
Their parents had brought them back from evacuation just four months earlier. The bomb hit just after midday and there were 150 casualties with 35 children and teachers killed.
Eric, of Birdwell Drive, Great Sankey, was in hospital for 18 months after the incident and was sent home still severely disabled as “they had done all they could.” Describing the day he said: “More children than usual were running around the playground that day because many were going to a performance of ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ that afternoon, and the fighter-bomber pilot must have seen them.
Eric was eating his sandwiches in the school’s ground floor dining area when the 500-pound bomb hit directly over it. Kitty had just run into the room when the bomb hit. Parts of the building collapsed burying children and teachers.
Eric was dug out hours later and he was among the most seriously injured. His sister’s body was found close by.
He said: “On this visit I stood and looked around the now quiet and deserted playground. In one corner is a memorial garden. One wing of the old school (first built in 1904) is still used and has a staircase I well remember.
“But there has been more rebuilding since I went over 10 years ago, and now covers the old dining area where Kitty and I had lain under those piles of rubble for so many long, cold hours.” Eric said it is believed that Kitty died instantly and he lapsed in and out of consciousness. He said the memories are “etched” into his mind.
His book Class War, describing his experiences of evacuation and being bombed, can be obtained by clicking here or by ringing him on 01925 728677.