大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Helen Avey of the 大象传媒 London Team on behalf of Richard Jackson and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

1927 Born Chingford, Essex. 1937-38 Moved from Ainslie Wood Road, Chingford to Coledale Drive, Stanmore, Middlesex, when I was about 10 years old. Remained there throughout WW2.

We lived in a Laings built semi detached house with garage on a newly built estate. Those were the days before building sites were fenced off. So, as children, we, like monkeys used to climb the iron scaffolding and play in the half finished houses. We were never caught! Most enjoyable time! Saturday morning we would go to see a couple of films at The Odeon Cinema Belmont Circle (no longer there) for 6d, 9d, then 1/- Price increases ad infinitum. My playmates who also lived in Coledale Drive were Denis Bristow, Tony Greenwood, Peter Deker, Bill Marsh, Derrick Adley, who I think lived in Braithwaite Gdns. We were in and out of the Bristow family home; I had a secret boyhood crush on Denis' sister Joan. Bill Marsh was a bit of an electronics addict. Intellectually advanced for his age. It was radio time then. No television. I remember Sept 1939 hearing Chamberlain having to declare war on Germany. It was an anxious time, wondering what to expect. We felt helpless. Families were encouraged to use their gardens to grow vegetables. We did this, as well as keeping six Rhode Island Red chickens for extra eggs.

At the beginning of the war families were supplied with a garden air-raid shelter, called the Anderson made of corrugate iron sections, which we had to set in the grounds and cover with more earth. Later another type of shelter was delivered. This was made of 潞 inch thick steel and shaped like a table, large enough for two people sleeping underneath. It was placed in the downstairs living rooms. Theory was this would protect us in the event of house collapse through bomb damage. Still later on as the bombing increased a brick built shelter with wooden bunk beds was constructed outside our house in the road to accommodate families. They were built at intervals along Coledale Drive (no longer there of course) and other roads in the borough. For a short while both we and the Bristows who lived across the road from us used the shelter. Can't remember anyone else using it. We soon tired of the inconvenience of having to carry bedding to and from our house. Preferring to stay in our homes.

After a while we got used to the intermittent drone of the German bombers during the hours of darkness. The blackout windows taped in case of bomb blast! The whistling sound of dropping bombs. Our anti aircraft guns banging away. Search lights scanning the sky. Not much use against fog and low cloud. Seeing the flashes from the anti aircraft guns. The red glow from the fires reflected back off the low cloud base. We realised the east end of London, especially docklands was being hit hard by the German bombers. As youngsters we used to find and collect pieces of shrapnel, silk cord from parachute flares and bombs. Even an unexploded incendiary bomb.

Gradually the German Luftwaffe increased their activity in our area. Maybe because Fighter Command was close by.

My mother decided that I should go and stay with relatives in Maidenhead. I didn't like school there. I was very unhappy. The teacher had a ruler in his hand. I hated arithmetic. I was made to feel like a dunce and an outsider. I begged to return home and finish schooling at Chandos School, Kingsbury, Middlesex (now renamed, can't think why). Regardless of the bombing, I was glad to be back home. Apart from that short break I was at Chandos School from 1938 until July 1941. We left school aged 14 years. I had no idea about what I wanted to do with my future life, if any!

Got my first job with a small local engineering factory along the Honeypot Lane. No idea what they made as I wasn't there long enough to find out on account of their ritualistic initiation of smearing ones genitals with industrial graphite. I struggled and fought hard. I won, and left!

At this time my father ex. 1st World War QMS in the Middlesex Regiment. Now a member of the Commissionaires was employed as security at a small factory along the Watford Bypass, known locally as the Watford Test Beds. It was through my father I was taken on by the management to help around the factory which employed men and women. After weeks of making tea, sweeping the floor and general odd jobbing I found myself helping to fit new for old spark plugs, manifold gaskets, piston rings, cam-shaft covers on the Rolls Royce Merlin engines which powered the Hurricane and Spitfire Fighter planes. Some engines came to us covered in mud. Obviously these had crash landed. Every engine we serviced had to pass inspection by the AID (Air Inspection Department) before being tested. The actual test bed was made of very thick concrete and open at the top to allow the roar from the engine to escape. Once I was allowed to see an engine being tested from the control cubicle. We all wore ear plugs! Later we serviced the supercharged version of the Merlin. Merlin XX fitted to the Hurricane gave power at altitude and maintained it at loser altitudes. This new engine saw action at the end of the Battle of Britain. Consider what we as a small factory were doing. The noise we made. We couldn't be seen from the main road. The German bombers never found us. I was the first young 15-16 year old to work there. Every morning I walked to Belmont Circle and caught a steam train to Stanmore Station (long since gone) From there a double decker bus took me along the Watford Bypass to the hidden factory. I believe a new boy took my place after I left to join the De Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd at Stag Lane, Burnt Oak as an apprentice. I remember seeing an experimental aero-engine called either the Goblin or Griffen. Don't know what happened to it.

At home word got round that a twin enngined Messerschmitt 110 had belly flopped in a playing field near us. I went to see it. Apparently the gunner facing the rear of the plane used a swivelling machine gun. During combat he was wounded and shot his own tail plane, which helped to bring his aircraft down.

Towards the end of the war the Germans were sending over their new rocked propelled VI called the flying bomb. I actually saw one flying low and suddenly the rocket cut out. When that happened new knew it was on its way down to kill innocent civilians.

The V2 was different in that we had no sound warning. At this time I had to move into digs (lodgings) because my mother and father decided to more the Westgate on Sea, Kent. The war was virtually over.

I shall never forget the enormous explosion and the second it took me to pull the bed sheets up over my head before the front bedroom window shattered and covered me in bed. My landlady rushed in to check I was all right. Which I was! The rocket had landed in a garden a few doors away on our side of the road. I immediately thought I could help dig people out from the rubble. I hurriedly dressed and went to see what I could do. I was asked if I was related to any of the victims. As I wasn't I was quietly thanked and advised to leave the task of finding people to the appropriate authority. Which I did.

I did witness the removal of a body in a blood stained sheet. Apparently a head was found in the next road. The war in Europe was over. Food rationing continued. I looked forward to the day when we could once again eat a banana!

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