大象传媒

Dad was a Cabinet Maker as well as a Musician and always busy making or doing something. Before the war he had made this huge dog kennel. Tall with a slanting roof, a sleeping compartment and a run which had iron bars to keep our dog safe. It had a sliding bolt on the outside. A dogs place, in my Dads eyes was outside the house all night in his kennel, His home. This was started in September 1939 and Dad was called up the following year. It was months later when Germany started to raid Norwich. Most of the factories in Norwich were making shoes for the forces so this was our war effort and whilst all our anti aircraft guns and barrage balloons were helping to save London the enemy decided to bomb all or most of the factories. We had a factory at the bottom of our long garden and flames poured out of every window of that three story building in Northumberland Street. 1,000's of incendairies and high explosives were dropped, they had total freedom since we had NOTHING to protect us. Eventually in the morning we left our Anderson shelter which Dad had put a floor in, made bunkbeds, made a four step ladder up to the door which he had fixed and completed our safety with a corrugated porch. When we got to our small back yard we found Jimmy gone. The door had blowm open and as our gate was shut, this was 6ft tall as was the wall around, we could only assume he had been blown out AND over the 6ft wall onto the concrete path the other side - and bolted. We couldn't find him even though we called around Nelson Street, Ann Street and Northumberland Street. We had to leave without him to go and live with my Gt Aunt in Strumshaw as our Gable End to the house was very dangerous. Dad didn't know where we were, he got compasionate leave to come home to see if we were safe, and this was 4 days later. As he walked in his army boots from Dereham Road, he doesn't exactly know when, he suddenly realised Jimmy was at his side. Remember Dad had no idea what had happened but was pleased to see Jimmy as we all were when Dad arrived at Kosicot, Strumshaw, Nr. Brundall with our dog. If only HE could have told us what had happened and where he had been, but now he was safe.

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