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Many moons ago (1948) I left Gosport to join the Army and travelled quite a bit and when my time came to leave the Army I settled in N. Ireland
in 1969 and strangely enough thats when the troubles started here.
I lived in Old Rd when I left Gosport but before that I was at school at Clarence Sq boys school. I left school aged 14 in 1944 and started
work as a grocers assistant in Shaftbury Ave /Rd/ can’t remember which. I remember the Blitz in Jan(10th) 1941 when we were pretty well killed by bombs and again in Mar(10th) 1941 when they
bombed us and Portsmouth. The battleship King George V was in harbour and was the obvious target but they were driven off somehow.
Next day a German plane came over taking photos, I assume but was hit by AA fire and we watched the pilot come down by parachute and all
the people living in Willis Rd set off after him to kill him and although armed with axes, shovels, and misc. things to cut or stab with, then the local bobby chasing after them saying don’t harm
him he will be a P.O.W. when he lands but he was pushed off his bike and I don’t now what happened after that.
I also remember walking over troops sleeping on the pavement waiting to embark on the landing craft for the D Day invasion, they were all
around Clarence Sq and on the ferry approaches by the New Barracks, then one day there were none.
So if you any info or photos of Gosport during the war years I would certainly love to see/read them. thank you.
J.Priestley ex 7 Old Rd now of Ballywalter Co Down 2004
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