Under Fire

A gripping eyewitness account of hidden impact of war on the home front.

'We would say to each other "here it comes" and would listen to the whining whizz which sounded like it was for us every time.'

DANVERS STREET AMBULANCE STATION, 8 September 1940

London in the summer of 1940. June Spencer volunteers for the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service in Chelsea. Every night she writes up the day's events in her diary, whether it's driving in a hail of incendiaries, peeling potatoes for the crews, or loading broken and bleeding victims into her ambulance. She also records her hectic social life-dining at the Ritz, dancing at the Caf de Paris and partying with the artists, writers and aristos in her set. But below the surface is turmoil and heartache: dear friends killed in action, relationships cracking under pressure and a growing dissatisfaction with her role in London.

Using June's vivid first-hand accounts of life in the thick of the Blitz, Naomi Clifford paints a vivid picture of a young woman navigating the perils of home front life.