How a girl, 4, survived the Bath Blitz after her house was flattened by a bomb

"It was a miracle I survived, if I'd been lying in a slightly different position I would have died.

"It was just so frightening, afterwards the sound of an aeroplane going over would make me hysterical."

Mary Payne was just under five when her world was turned upside down.

She was lying on a double mattress in the basement with her siblings as bombs fell thick and fast on their home in Bath in April 1942.

The Ollis family (Mary's maiden name) were victims of what has become known as the Bath Blitz or the Baedeker raids.

Targets were chosen from the influential travel guide published by Baedeker due to their cultural and historical influence during the Second World War.

Tragedy struck as Mary lay there next to her brother John and sister Jean – a bomb had blasted onto their home at 28 The Paragon. Tragically, Jean and John did not survive.

They were among 400 who perished in the raids. Jean was eight and John was six.

Mary, and her two other younger brothers Keith and Ian, along with her parents Elsie and Reginald, all survived – but they had lost everything and were re-homed elsewhere in Bath.

Mary, who turns 86 in July, said: "I woke up, we were in the basement because the siren had gone off. This happened quite a lot at the time. Dad had picked me up out of bed and taken me into the basement to a mattress on the floor.

"It was all set up for these events. Me, John and Jean were on a double mattress up in the corner, our brother Ian was in the cot and our other brother Keith was in the pram.

"Suddenly I thought my brother John had rolled onto me. I said 'get off John' but then of course I realised afterwards it wasn't John - it was the house falling in.

"If I had been lying in a slightly different position in that basement I may not have been here today. It would have been the distance of just inches.

"It was frightening. I couldn't move and the next thing I remember is someone I didn't know picking me up towards a hole in the ceiling.

"It was a rough hole with a light. I vividly remember the light as though it was a temporary light. I could see a cable as though it was hanging over, that's the first thing I realised was wrong.

"Then I remember what must have been a rescuer lifting me up and when I got halfway up the man that was lifting me said to the man that was pulling me through 'give her some brandy water' and I remember thinking 'I'm not allowed that'."

Mary had survived what has become known as the 'third attack' of the Bath Blitz, which happened on April 26 in 1942.

She'd lost two siblings and the family home and all of their possessions were completely destroyed.

However, despite Mary walking away from the bombings with just a small scar, the emotional and psychological effects of the attack still remain in her memories - though it has become easier over the years.

She said: "We had lost absolutely everything. The only thing I can ever remember saving was my sister Jean's doll. It had hundreds of cracks all over it – it was the only thing I remember being rescued.

"After that I remember getting checked over at the hospital but all I had was a small scar. I was so, so lucky.

"Then we were housed in Bath in a place called Larkhall. Before then we stayed at my grandmother's house in Bath and then also at my other grandmother's house in South Wales. It was in Wales that I went to school for the very first time."

Mary said: "We thought we were safe. After the bombing I remember waking up on a train heading to South Wales. It was a terrifying experience. I remember parts of it so clearly even now."

The first raid of the Bath Blitz struck just before 11pm on the Saturday night and lasted until 1am. The third raid, which only lasted two hours but caused extensive damage, started in the early hours of Monday morning.

Bath had remained largely untouched until April 1942. The Baedeker Blitz was mounted in response to a step-change in the effectiveness of the RAF's bombing offensive in March 1942 which resulted in the destruction of the German city of Lübeck.

A total of 417 people were killed in the Bath raids, including Jean and John Ollis, and another 1,000 injured.

More than 19,000 buildings were affected, of which 1,100 were seriously damaged or destroyed, including 218 of architectural or historic interest.

Houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and The Paragon, where Mary was born and lived when tragedy struck, were destroyed and the Assembly Rooms were burned.

Mary added: "I don't remember anyone telling me what had happened to Jean and John. Of course, I remember that I missed them.

"When I first understood it I remember feeling like it was a complete miracle that I survived. We were right next to each other on the mattress. It brings tears to my eyes to think of it.

"If anyone mentioned Jean and John to my dad, his eyes would fill with tears.

"I remember after the raid, Dad took me out a couple of times, he was terrified and kept pulling me back if I walked too near the kerb or went too far away from him. It was a very difficult time for him and mum. I can't imagine losing a child, let alone two."

The Ollis family home was next to that of Dr Mary Middlemas, who along with her sister had returned for a brief respite from duty during the third raid when the house was struck by a high explosive bomb that killed both women, their elder sister and their two maids.

While the fate of Dr Mary Middlemas has been well-documented over the years, that of her neighbours the Ollis family has not – until now.

Jean and John's names are now listed in the Book of Remembrance at Bath Abbey. It reads: "Jean Margaret (1933- 1942). Died 28 Paragon. Aged eight. Daughter of Reginald William Ollis and Elsie Ollis. Victim of third attack.

"Reginald John Ollis (1935- 1942). Died 28 Paragon. Aged six. Son of Reginald William Ollis and Elsie Ollis. Victim of third attack."

Mary said: "I walked away from the bomb attack with just a small scar that I don't really remember having now but afterwards I used to get hysterical over aeroplanes going over – I was playing once and a few aircraft came over, the next thing I remember is screaming and my mum trying to help me.

"I've always been nervous of thunder too and I think that was linked to what happened."

Mary's father Reginald, also known as Jack, worked as a builder, plumber, electrician and many other trades before and during the war, while her mum Elsie was a nurse.

Mary said: "Dad could do anything. He mended our shoes, he could turn his hand to anything. He was a wonderful man, the loss of Jean and John was so very hard on him and mum, as it would be."

Years later, aged 20, Mary married and moved around the UK before settling in Wolverhampton. She worked in the city's Marks & Spencer store for many years.

She now lives in Bilbrook in South Staffordshire, where she is a much-loved great-grandmother and grandmother.

She went on to have four children, five grandchildren and now two great-grandchildren, with another one on the way.

She added: "None of my children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren would be here today if I had been lying in a different place on that double mattress in that basement.

"It's so emotional to think about. When I look back I do miss Jean and John, but I know only the good die young.

"It makes you appreciate what you have got. If we had all died in that basement it would have been the complete end of our family."

Decades after the Baedeker Blitz, highly-decorated Luftwaffe pilot Willi Schludecker returned to Bath to apologise for his role in the third attack bombings – which was very emotional for Mary and her family.

It is thought that the Baedeker raids, which targeted Exeter, Bath, Canterbury, York and Norwich, were a reprisal for the Royal Air Force's bombing of Lübeck and other historic towns in Germany.

Willi Schludecker, 87 at the time, who flew more than 120 flights for the Luftwaffe, including the Bath Blitz, travelled to the UK as part of Bath's annual remembrance service in April 2008.

He died in a hospital in Cologne on June 17 2010, at the age of 90.

Mr Schludecker was recorded saying: "The war was madness. I realise now what I did and will come back to say sorry. I was afraid the British would be very angry but I find that now they are very gentle."

Mr Schludecker was just 21 when he flew three missions over Bath that were part of the Baedeker raids in which targets were chosen from the influential travel guide published by Baedeker. He was shot down nine times. He was twice awarded the Iron Cross.

He added: "We were told what to do and we did it, just like the young British pilots."

For Mary, Mr Schludecker's apology was very emotional.

She said: "If I'd gone there I'd have been in tears. He was only 21. I admired him. It must be a very hard job to do to come back and say sorry. I couldn't like him, how could I? But I wish I had seen him. He did what he was told to do like the British pilots were."

Credit: Emma Walker, Express and Star