Wartime horror from a child's perspective

Now 82, Rosamund Hoy remembers it vividly. Of course, it was tragic; awful numbers of lives were lost; but Mrs Hoy looks back on it all as having been rather exciting from a child's perspective.

"During the Battle of Britain, my friend and I were riding our horses on the Downs up by Rackham Clump, Storrington way, when a dog fight took place overhead.

"We took cover in the clump and the noise was terrific. We could see the marking on the planes.

"Empty shell cases fell down around us hitting the leaves on the way down.

"Our horses were rather alarmed - as we were. We got home two hours later, but no one seemed worried, rather different to today when danger of a different kind is lurking."

Mrs Hoy, who lives at Wepham and is the daughter of former WSG columnist Newall Duke (real name Lawrence Graburn), used to catch a bus from school in Littlehampton: "I then cycled home to Wepham. I used to leave my bike at a pub by the station.