165 Catharine Street

Memories of the bombing of Railway Cottages

In 2020 we received this email from Keith Ward in Canada who remembers the bombing of Railway Cottages

I just finished reading the subject report and found it extremely interesting in that I remember vividly the aftermath of the bombing of the Railroad Cottages. I was eight years old at the time and I was living at 165 Catharine Street with my mother and younger brother Michael. My father was away at the time after volunteering to join the Royal Artillery in 1939.

I remember seeing the damaged cottages and the railings with large sections missing that were later covered with large sheets of steel bolted over the damaged railings.

One other interesting item is that I went to the Central School for Boys Parkside from 1939 to 1945 and Eric Leeke was in my same year. The attached image was taken of our Old Boys reunion in 2005 and Eric is standing in the back row extreme right. I’m on the right end of the middle row

I emigrated to Canada in 1957 and for many years travelled back to Cambridge to see family and many of my school friends.