Three Ipswich women still remember life during the Second World War more than 80 years on.
Heather Brown recalled the fear of being separated from her parents as bombs fell on Ipswich eight decades ago.
The 91-year-old was evacuated to Hadleigh with her sister when the Second World War broke out.
Their parents stayed in Ipswich, leaving Heather terrified for their safety.
“I remember being told that bombs had fallen on the street where my parents lived,” she said.
“This was very frightening for me as a young child, being away from my parents and constantly worrying about them.”
Heather, now living at Henley House, run by Greensleeves Care, remembers spending hours in air-raid shelters, sometimes until 4am, before going to school.
She remembers bombs shattering greenhouses at the top of Bloomfield Street and killing a boy further down the road, next door to her friends.
After two years in Hadleigh, Heather and her sister returned to Ipswich and their parents.
She said: “Although I was very young, these frightening memories have stayed with me throughout my life.”
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Fellow Henley House resident Betty Driver, 97, was living on Bramford Lane in Ipswich when war was declared.
Her family moved from Walton to Ipswich in 1930 in search of work.
“We thought we were going to be invaded,” she said. “We always lived with the constant fear of being bombed.”
At school, Betty left the classroom when aircraft flew overhead and sheltered in trenches dug into the school field.
Her family had no outdoor air-raid shelter at home.
“When the air-raid sirens went off, we didn’t have a shelter, so we had to scramble straight under the kitchen table and hide,” she said.
Betty’s older sister joined the Women’s Land Army, while Percy and Fred, two of her grandmother’s children, went away to serve. They never returned.
A third resident, Doreen King, 94, remembers sharing a garden air-raid shelter with neighbours and helping one another through rationing and bombing raids.
"The frightening buzzing sound of the bombs made everyone hold their breath," Doreen remembered.
To protect themselves during the raids, Doreen’s family of four shared an air raid shelter at the bottom of their garden with a neighbouring family of four. In those cramped quarters, adversity forged deep bonds. The two families looked after one another, sharing whatever food they had and helping each other through every challenge.
Next week marks 81 years since the Second World War ended.
For Betty, preserving those memories remains important.
“We went through so much,” she said. “It’s so important that we always remember.”
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