During the summer of 1940 as the battle of Britain raged in the sky's above the Guards Depot at Caterham , mushroomed into what was virtually a military town where thousands of recruits of the five Guards foot regiments were undergoing training. Both were specific, priority targets for low-level attacks.

Life in the Depot during these dangerous days is described by former Grenadier Fred Whittle who now lives near Kendal in Cumbria:

"The Depot had consisted of large, three-storey grey stone barrack blocks beside the parade ground, but when I arrived in July 1940 as conscript Grenadier recruit 2619944 Whittle F. they were surrounded by acres of Nissen-type huts, erected hurriedly to accommodate the huge call-up influx.

The intensity of the German raids increased through that Summer and the frequency of attacks severely affected training. Warning sirens meant we had to break off and take to the slit trench open shelters around the cricket pitch. Most raids were of short duration, but each cost at least one training recruit.

...

On other nights we were less fortunate. One raid succeeded in destroying one of the smaller barrack blocks and a number of Welsh Guards recruits were killed or injured.