Our Salisbury member of parliament John Glen MP has been a great supporter of our project from the outset. He has contributed with help, information and an interview to the film as well as put us in touch with his granny Hilda. She was a witness to the Luftwaffe attack on the gasworks during the war. Hilda’s father, John Glen’s great grandad, was the man in charge of the gasworks and they lived right by the side of the gasworks.
As she accounted the full story in our documentary; when the German Focke-Wulf 190 machine-gunned the gas container at Gas Lane, he set it on fire, with flames gushing out, fueled by the escaping gas through the holes. Hilda rushed to the scene and found her dad half way up the burning container, in his best suit, trying to plug the holes whilst the firemen kept him hosed down with water to keep him from burning. The thing her dad was really annoyed about was ruining his suit! That’s the kind of spirit that help win the war.
Here is Hilda taking us for a casual quick guide to where she lived by the gasworks whilst we were in between takes.
