Despite the growing deprivations on the home front, hard pressed Swindonians were asked to dig deeper into their pockets as Britain entered a second year at war - and the response was phenomenal. "It does not matter how much we women detest war, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that in this war women and children are in the front line," May George, Swindon's first Lady Mayor 1935-36 wrote in a letter to the Evening Advertiser. "Let the women of Swindon show what they can do to help in the defeat of the enemies of everything that we hold dear." Just days before the town's War Weapons Week was to begin, ten people were killed and several others injured during an air raid on October 20, 1940. Houses in Rosebery Street took a direct hit while a second bomb dropped in the middle of an adjoining road. Local residents were commended for their great fortitude and the calm way in which they responded to the emergency. If ever the people of Swindon needed ...