19 Dec 1941, Laura B Ziegler's wartime memories

A bomb hit the road behind us about December 19, and broke the water main leaving us without water. Our fears were short-lived however, because in the afternoon a large shell broke another pipe in a culvert across the road. The precious liquid trickled slowly from the shattered main. We considered ourselves very fortunate to have water so close at hand. Naturally, it was dangerous to go and get water because we never knew when the next shell would come or where it would land. Some people had to walk for many blocks to get a pail of water. A person learns to value a little water in a time like this.

One afternoon the shelling was very close and it kept on for more than an hour. After the firing stopped one of our little girls said, “Mamma, I prayed that God would send his angels to stand between us and shells so we wouldn’t be hit. If a shell came for us I prayed that the angel would push it into the ground so we wouldn’t be hurt.” We opened the front door a little for fresh air after the firing and there in the front was a shell that had landed in the lawn and hadn’t exploded. Ruth was certain that the angels had protected us and caused this shell to land in the ground. If this shell had come 10 feet higher, it would have come right into our room and injured or killed most of us.