1940 Battle of Britain Beginning Interrupted Rapid City Woman’s Girlhood

The blitzkrieg of England began on September 7, 1940, as 300 Luftwaffe bombers  began to soften up London as a prelude to invading the country under the codename “Operation Sea Lion.”  Fifty-six more nights of pounding English cities would follow until May 1941, when the Germans called off the invasion.

      Americans watched from afar, but didn’t jump into the fray until after Honolulu was attacked by the Japanese.

      Speaking to the Black Hills Veterans Writing Group, Sonia Cody of Rapid City once recounted her experiences growing up in England during the Battle of Britain and hardships that removed the innocence of an otherwise carefree girlhood.

      She remembers how her father, a British officer in the famed Black Watch, first settled the family in India during the waning days of the British Empire.

     When WWII broke out, he moved the family back to England, primarily in Leeds and Cambridge.  Her father was severely wounded while fighting in the North African deserts. At 22 she moved with her Vietnam veteran husband to Rapid City.

       She has joined two other Rapid City women who have talked to the same Group about their girlhoods being interrupted in Europe:  Mely Rahn who hid in Occupied France and Ellie Larson who scavenged for food in Occupied Holland.