The family of a Second World War evacuee who narrowly escaped death after returning home from Lowestoft has paid tribute.

Kathleen Harvey, who first arrived in the seaside town in 1941, was aged just 12 when her and her sister, Joyce, left London.

It was the second time the sisters had been evacuated, first in 1940 to Reading, Berkshire.

Now, following her death earlier this year at the age of 92, her family have revealed for the first time how she narrowly escaped the town with her life after a local tragedy.

Eastern Daily Press: Kathleen Harvey loved to play tennis

Kathleen Winifred was born on April 7, 1930, in Islington, London, to Charles and Kitty Lee.

She spent a very happy childhood there until the war broke out in 1939.

After being evacuated for the first time, the sisters returned home to London, only to be evacuated again the following year, this time to Lowestoft.

Here they stayed with a family on St Peter’s Street until February 2 that year, when their father come to collect them to return home.

They left the town with precious memories of their time there and the family they stayed with.

Eastern Daily Press: Black and white photograph of Black and white photograph of the old Clarendon Stores building on

Just two days later, a stray German bomb would land on the house they had been living in, killing the people inside.

Her son, Peter Harvey, said: “She told us that her and her sister had been very happy living with the family, despite being very young to be separated from her parents at that time.

“Typically for mum, she just got on with it.

“Her passing has reminded us of how grateful we are to the family who were kind enough to open their door in difficult times for others.”

Eastern Daily Press: Black and white photograph of a Dornier Do17Z bomber from Luftwaffe

On returning to London, Kathleen would go on to work for MI5.

She met her future husband, Geoff Harvey, at a dance in 1956. They married in 1958 and had two sons; Peter (b.1960) and Paul (1962). Geoff died in 1985.

In 2017, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Joyce died in 2020.

Eastern Daily Press: Kathleen Harvey (pictured) on her wedding day to her husband, Geoff

Paying tribute to the grandmother and great grandmother, her family said: “She got on with life whatever was thrown at her.

“She was the strongest of people, fiercely independent, and will be greatly missed.

“She was truly one of a kind, completely selfless, and family meant the world to her.”

LOWESTOFT'S 1941 BOMBING

On February 4, 1941, a Dornier Do17Z bomber from Luftwaffe unit 4/KG.2, had departed from France in clear conditions tasked with a bombing raid against RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

However, it was intercepted by two Hurricanes from RAF Coltishall as it crossed the coast, and was chased northwards across Lowestoft at about 9.23am.

As it tried to escape the RAF fighters, the German crew jettisoned their 18kg by 50kg bombs, which fell in a line between the harbour and Compass Street, near the Town Hall.

Eastern Daily Press: Black and white photograph of damage to the old Clarendon Stores building on London Road North,

Among the buildings also damaged or destroyed by the bombs were the Congregational Church, the Old Public Hall, a pub, the former Clarendon Stores, and the house in St Peter's Street – where two people were killed.

A short while later, the Hurricanes, flown by Pilot Officer Barnes and Sergeant Brejcha, brought down the Dornier aircraft, which crashed in the sea off Corton killing three crew members.

The fourth member of the crew, Feldwebel Waldemar Blaschyk, the aircraft flight engineer, survived after he parachuted into the sea.

He was captured by a vessel from Great Yarmouth and brought ashore as a prisoner of war.