Remembering the Plymouth Blitz

David Turner was one of many children growing up during the Plymouth blitz Credit: David Turner

81 year old David Turner is a historian who was determined to relive his own history in the city where grew up but soon left after World War Two. He arranged to meet the owner of his childhood home - a suburban semi with a striking view over the River Plym down to the city which proved to be a natural corridor for German bombers.

David Turner recalled his mother breaking down in tears in the kitchen on the declaration of war and one night an incendiary device bouncing off the roof and burning ferociously in the garden. As a child he found it exciting, except when the family was huddled in their air raid shelter and fear took over night after night during the blitz.

David Turner talks to pupils at his old school about his wartime memories Credit: ITV Westcountry

He revisited his old school, Laira Green, which was largely unaffected during the war. There he gave a unique insight of his wartime experience to assembled children.

The city centre has changed beyond recognition. We went in search of where his father's business once was in George Street but there wasn't a trace. It was flattened after the blitz and may have been built on twice since its destruction in 1942. But overall David welcomed the changes to the city - like most cities, he said, they are good and bad.