AFTER News Shopper highlighted a neglected high street plaque commemorating those who died in the Second World War bombing of Lewisham market, Eileen Homewood contacted us with her remarkable story.

For Eileen, the war had not made much impact until July 28 1944.

The 83-year-old explained: “Before that I’d missed most of the bombing - I just got the Doodlebug instead.”

Then aged just 17 and living with her parents, Eileen was working at Dolcis shoe shop when a V1 bomb fell on Lewisham high street, with the neighbouring Marks and Spencer store taking the full force of the blast.

Though it was a quiet morning in the shop, the bombing happened at 9.41am on a Friday while all the market stalls outside were busy with people doing their shopping.

The great grandmother-of-five said: “You could hear them coming over and you thought, is that a doodlebug or is it a plane? Then, when the engine stopped, that’s when you dove for cover.

“I was lucky. We had places in the shop for spare shoes. When i heard the engine stop I stuck my head in one of them.”

She went on: “The explosion was terrific, we just didn’t know what was happening.

“All the mirrors around the shop broke. But luckily there was a big beam across the ceiling which stopped the whole lot falling on us.”

Not realising she had been injured by a piece of flying glass that had gashed her leg, Eileen helped one of the other hurt workers outside to an ambulance.

She said: “Outside there was rubble everywhere - it was complete devastation. People were running about all over the place.

“I told the ambulance man there was nothing wrong with me but he looked at me and said ‘you’ve got blood on your leg’.”

Because of a lack of beds at St John’s, she was taken to Pembury hospital the next day and remembers passing the high street where the rubble was still smouldering.

The bomb had left 52 dead, 216 people injured and 100 shops damaged. Among those who lost their lives were market stall holders who Eileen had come to know well over the years.

Eileen, who now lives at Wydeville Manor Road, Grove Park said: “When you think about it afterwards it was quite a frightening experience. But when you’re a teenager you just don’t feel frightened or anything.”

After the shop was rebuilt one year later, Eileen, went back to work there before joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service as an ambulance driver.

She said: “It was all finished and built up by the time I got back down there. Afterwards nobody spoke about it. It was sort of forgotten.”

But that day has stayed with Eileen, who still has a scarred leg and who even now can’t bear to hear fireworks going off and still tries to think of the people in the shop on that day.

She said: “Everytime a plane went overhead I was nearly passing out with fright, waiting for the engine to stop.

“It was terrible of course but you get through it. I’m still here and I’m not going yet.”