Dangerous Skies

It's the height of the Blitz. Night after night, wave after wave of German bombers pound London streets determined to bring the city to its knees. Alan and his best mates, Tommy and Wikie, have virtually given up going to school. Classes are continually disrupted. Many of the teachers, dragged out of retirement because of the war, hardly care whether their pupils learn. Some days there are silences at school registration - names of children injured or killed by falling bombs. As Alan and his friends roam the streets of Clapham and Brixton, they get sucked into the world of Duggie, a teenager who runs a gang of looters. Alan vows never to steal for Duggie again. But it's too late - the boys have become caught up in the dangerous web of an armed robber called Ted. Ted had shot a bank guard and is on the run, hunted by the police. Alan thinks that is the end of their troubles. But he's wrong, for Ted turns up once again. During a bomb alert and falling bombs, Alan faces the gangster's loaded pistol. This thrilling story, based on the author's own experiences growing up during the Blitz, is an antidote to nostalgia. It shows the terrors of the Blitz and how war brings out both the best and the worst in adults and children alike. Appropriate for schools and Keystage 2.