A retired builder, who was one of the apprentices to rebuild bomb-hit homes in Erith, is hoping to restore a commemorative plaque to its former glory.

At 84-years-old Colin Austin's memory of his life as an apprentice is still razor sharp as he recalls anecdotes from his first day at work in 1945.

After leaving school at 14, the standard age for boys, Colin tried his hand in the saw mills before joining a national scheme for the training of apprentices.

"I was working in saw mills- that was my very first job and I wanted to be a carpenter," he said.

Colin looks back on his time as an apprentice with fond memories after his long and successful career in the building trade.

News Shopper:

The plaque is now in the museum store until a new place is found.

He made lifelong friends, including Norman Arnold Gillett.

The 26 apprentices rebuilt 45 and 47 Aperfield Road and one and two Roberts Road, which were totally destroyed by enemy bombs during the second World War.

The teenagers worked eight-hour days in order to finish the houses which were officially opened in December 1945.

"It was anything goes in the beginning, we had to do everything," said Colin, who worked on the two Roberts Road houses.

"The first job that we had to do at Roberts Road was we had to dig the bomb craters out.

"We had to do everything you can mention, even mixing the materials.

"I didn't think much of it, even when we were doing the roof."

The four properties were the first houses in the country completed under the apprenticeship scheme, according to the plaque which was mounted near the Aperfield houses.

Over time the plaque was moved into the Erith library museum, but when the centre closed it was moved into Bexley Council's museum store which is managed by Bexley Heritage Trust.

A spokeswoman from the council said they are liaising with the trust about the possibility of displaying the plaque in the new library.

Colin hopes the plaque will be restored in order to keep the history of the town's first post war houses alive.

News Shopper:

The Erith apprentices in 1945.

For the Eastleigh Road resident, the sights and sounds of a bomb hit Erith are still fresh in his mind.

He recalled one occasion when a bomb landed behind his house after a particularly heavy air raid.

"We were walking down the hall and I opened the front door. When it was only about a foot open a bomb came down and blew up," he said.

"It took the door right out of my hand."

The next day Colin and his friends went looking for the bomb to collect shrapnel.

He said they found a crater where the bomb had hit the soft ground near a disused factory.

"It was huge we could put a double decker bus in it," he said.