From Doodlebugs to Devon

by Sarah Shaw

June 1944. Housewife Yvonne Shaw's life on the Home Front is shattered when Hitler's terror weapon, the 'doodlebugs' or flying bombs, bombard south London. After several fearful weeks she escapes to Devon, but even there her troubles are not over. In letters written to her husband, an army officer in Scotland, she describes her experiences which, in turn, raise Was Croydon deliberately placed in the doodlebugs' firing line? Why couldn't she escape to Scotland? Why was an MP arrested for breaking the law? Historical evidence provides answers, places her account in context and reveals stories which confirm and challenge assumptions about this period. 'I very much enjoyed the book. Your mother 's letters are both vivid and witty, and the story of the V1s and V2s that you've woven around them is a beautifully clear and succinct summation of a part of recent history that's still relatively unknown.' (Lissa Evans, novelist, 'V for Victory', 'Crooked Heart ') 'I found this portrait of an 'ordinary' woman and her son in the last awful year of the war unputdownable. A really lovely book.' (Sarah Harrison, novelist, 'Flowers of the Field' 'The Grass Memorial' ) 'An interesting insight into how Londonders really reacted to the V1s and V2s and how one woman escaped to post-D Day Devon.'.(Nick Higham, former BBC correspondent) ---------------

236 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2023

About the author

On leaving school I trained as a secretary and worked in London through the 1970s, for the BBC and various other companies.
Later, I moved into librarianship and recently retired from working as Librarian at a Cambridge college.