This personal wartime memoir by Robert Douglas Peckett, originally shared as part of the BBC’s People’s War project, offers a unique and vivid insight into life in Limpsfield Chart, a small village nestled under the North Downs on the Surrey–Kent border. Though remote and rural, the village found itself at the heart of the war effort due to its strategic position directly in line with France, London, and key RAF airfields such as Biggin Hill, Redhill, and Kenley.
Robert’s recollections paint a detailed picture of wartime Britain from the eyes of a child—where barrage balloons hovered above the village common, German and Italian POW camps lay hidden in nearby woods, and military convoys rumbled past on their way to Dover. With local dignitaries like Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Field Marshal Viscount Slim living nearby, and the skies filled with Hurricanes and Mustangs, Limpsfield Chart was anything but a quiet backwater.
This account brings to life not just the dangers and disruption of war, but also the remarkable resilience, curiosity, and community spirit that defined the Home Front—complete with air raid shelters, Home Guard rifle ranges, and an unforgettable VE Day parade led by a Canadian pipe and drum band. It is a heartfelt and valuable window into how global conflict shaped even the most rural corners of Britain.
Continue reading “At the Heart of It All: A Wartime Childhood in Limpsfield Chart”
