大象传媒

I was 4 when the war started the first memory I have is standing in the garden looking up at the sky (I did not know at the time what I was looking at)later found out from my mother that the siren had sounded for the first time luckily it was a false alarm,we then moved to where I live now and the war started with a vengence my mum used to put a mattress under the table and one on top we three children sat underneath, my gran used to sit in a chair by the table with a pillow over her head though what good it would have done her I don,t know.We did have a brick shelter built but as it faced the glass lean to we had we only used it a few times someone then told mum if a bomb dropped the glass would all blow in the shelter.
We were I suppose lucky though we had bombs drop all round us we were alright.
As children we were not allowed to go far from hadleigh one morning we were told that a bomb had dropped on the school but found out that it was just an incendery which fell in the playground the only damage was a small hole.
My father was called up in the army 1942 he was 39,I remember him with a big army truck calling in on his way to shoebury he was based at woolwich barracks he died of cancer in 1944.Mum did not recieve a pension,so times were much harder.

The air raid wardens used to keep an eye on us and stand on our corner one night mum heard a noise stuck her head out of the window and said "is it a gas raid"if it had of been we would be gone,it caused a laugh.

One night in 1944 we were all in bed when we heard the dreaded drone of a doodlebug the engine stopped mum got out of bed and just stood by the side I dived under the blankets there was one almighty bang it had crshed further up the road only one person was killed a Mr Jones just discharged from the army with shell shock he,d gone outside.
I think that was one of the most frightening things.
Though there were some tragic ones not far from us in the next road,the men had come home on leave and decided to go to the pub,a bomb fell on the bungalow killing 2 people,when the firemen came they walked on the walls not knowing that a baby was underneath.
So many stories my husband lived in Benfleet and his father had made a shelter and my husband kept his fish in an aquarian down there,
the warning went then the all clear they all went to bed the next morning he went to feed his fish but they were all dead his aunt vera who had been sitting next to them had flicked ash into the aquarian and killed them all.

I hope my grand daughters never have to go through a war lets hope someone will be brave enough to ban all wars and weapons.

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