大象传媒

I was a child at the time of the war and I lived in the suburbs of London. I can remember the air raids and we used to have an Anderson shelter. We used to run down the garden with cushions on our heads. There was a Railway which they ran a gun, a big heavy gun that was called big burser. They ran it up and down the railway firing. The Anderson shelter, used to be full of water, and we used to sit there trying to keep our feet out of the water. Inside the shelter it looked like a hanger. It was round and curved, and you put them deep in the garden. They wren鈥檛 useful if there was a direct hit, but they were supposed to save you from a direct hit some yards away. We used to then get so wet that we then used to run up the garden again and go to bed. Because I was a child, the feeling was when I was in the shelters I just accepted what was going on. I was frightened and I was glad I was with my parents 鈥� my father couldn鈥檛 go into the army, but yes I was frightened. There was not too much fright you just accepted it. I was going to be sent to Canada with my brother, the first boat that went out was sunk. So my parents wouldn鈥檛 let us go. So then we went thorugh the authorities, and we were going to be evacuated to the country. The kids all had labels on them, you didn鈥檛 know where you were going. You wrere huddled into a coach and then to the railway station. We found out we were going to Wales. I cried all the way to Wales. I felt isolated and lonely. It was difficult saying goodbye to my parents. Nobody really knew what was happening. We were literally just scooped up and sent away. They then took us to a school hall where we all stood round where people who had volunteered to take evacuees, came into the room and picked out who they wanted. It felt dresdful. Everyone wanted girls, they were happy to take me but not my brother. I wouldn鈥檛 go without my brother, I cried all the time! It finally got down to us being the last two. A lady came in who was Norweigon, who was very rich and took us home. She had a very large house, we had own flat, and we had Elssie the maid to look after us. Even though we had all this I was still insecure. When we left the suburbs of London we were in the middle of the bombing. We only stayed three weeks, my brother and I hated it. It wasn鈥檛 until last week I realised just how much he hated it there because now he will not return to Wales, not even for a holiday. When we got back the bombing got heavier. My father put a platform in the Anderson shelter above the water and we then went down there and it was drier. But then they wre issuing what they called Morrison shelters, and they were large, what looked like cages that filled up most of your living room, and you could sleep under there in this 鈥榗age鈥� and that鈥檚 where we slept during the war. With regards to things in the war you accepted what was going on. I remember I had never tasted a banana, I had heard of knickerbockerglorys, I wondered what one was. None of our presents were ever wrapped up. I wanted to make sure when I had a daughter all hert presents would be wrapped up. I remember the rationing. During the day you would have lots of cheese and potato pie. You鈥檇 have stews with a little meat in them. I loved butter but you ate your butter ration in one go usually. You had little rations per person. As a child when something was put in front of you you ate it, regardless of whether you liked it 鈥� people didn鈥檛 complain. We were always told 鈥渄on鈥檛 you know there鈥檚 a war on鈥� everyone would tell you that. I remember when the doodlebugs started. You would hear them come over, and then it would go silent, When it went silent you were frightened. You counted to ten, if you didn鈥檛 get to ten it meant they had blown up! So you counted to ten and that meant they鈥檇 fall out. You鈥檇 count to ten and then hear the bang. I still can鈥檛 stand low flying aircraft today. They fly low and I am terrified. I think as a child you are affectedf by the insecurities. You are never sure if you are going to be killed that day. You grow up, my brother and I, both grew up as nervous people. I had a grandmother who slept in the tubes because she lived right in London in Shepeards Bush. She never knew when she came up from the tubes in the morning, if her house would be there. I have a cousin who was born in a celler as there was a raid going on at the time. They got her mother out of her house, and she was born in the celler. Looking at the war as a child, everybody seemed very positive around me. Woman who went to work (that had never done factory work!) they would be coming home from shift work at 6am. They appeared to me that they had arranged ther elives as if 鈥榯hey had to do this!鈥� They had nice homes still. People did seem positive, people knew they had to go through it. I also have some memories of going to see the broadcasting house 鈥� it had been bombed. Quite a lot of the shops in London had huge glass windows, and they would be shattered. I remember the firemen, they looked exhausted. We went in to try and get something to eat once, my mother took us, and all they had was one egg. I remember watching from a hill in the suburbs and I could see London burning. It appeared as though it burnt for about three days. When we were at school it seemed we spent most of our time down the shelters, school then was nothing like school today. We grew up lacking an education. When the war was over I can rememberVJ day. That was the finish with the war with Japan. I went up to piccadily circus on VJ night. It was solid with people. The atmosphere was electric! People were dressing up eros. They had hats on and everything! That was something I really remembered. I got squashed up against railings at Buckingham Palace, and I never thought I鈥檇 get out! At Trafalgar squre people were jumping in the fountains! Everything really was electric! I remember seeing Churchil with a bulldog, he was trying to raise money by buying postage stamps with shells that were going to be dropped over Germany. To me Churchill looked like his dog! I can remember seing these shells absolutely covered in stamps! It was to raise money for the war.

We used to spend most of our school time in the trenches. We鈥檇 get to school and then the siren would go, and then we all had to file in two columns (that we had rehearsed previously). Then we would march down into the trenches. We played around a lot in the trenches and got into trouble because it was so boring. I remember the teachers brought down work into the trenches, but it wasn鈥檛 very successful because the teacher couldn鈥檛 keep the attention. I remember going to the trenches but I can鈥檛 remember what it was like inside. Also I remember that often when the all clear was given, we would come up and then we used to see the planes do a victory roll, and we all thought that was lovely. In the shops they used to take bets (like a raffle) of how many German planes had been shot down. The prize was some fruit. Because of the rationing to be given fruit was really quite a treat. I can remember wondering what a banana would taste like, because people would tell you about them but you never saw one or tried one. On the film screen they would have banana splits (American films) I absolutely longed for one of these! When I finally had one which was quite a few years on, I was very disappointed!
When I was in London there were The Spivs. They were people who sold things on the black market. Where my grandmother lived there was a man called Ted, he fascinated me. He had a suitcase with him and I can remember seeing him opening this suitcase and there was all silk underwear and French knickers. He would only open this case quick, people would pick out what they want and then he鈥檇 quickly shut the case again. One day in the street, he was there with his case open and the police came down the street. He shut the case up quickly and where my grandmother lived he through it down the passage and run like man. My grandmother picked it up and hid it. In those days all the people stuck together. So he got away with it. I remember this suit case filled with what I thought was the most beautiful underwear. He was selling it all on the black market! That was very much to that time. You used to see the spivs around shepherds Bush area, and all their dealings were from a suitcase.
Although a lot of things pass over your head when you鈥檙e a child they still have an affect. I was a very fearful child and so was my brother. As children we didn鈥檛 seem to talk about it really, there was a lot of acceptance of how things were. There wasn鈥檛 a lot of fuss made about things. People knew this is how it was.

My father in law was shipwrecked four times. He was in pearl harbour and he just got out in time. He was resting (which was something you had to do after a terrible ordeal). He had three weeks resting. They told him he had to cut his resting time short because he had to go away on another ship. The people who were with him were all captured and became prisoners of war to the Japanese and worked on the railway, and did not survive. My father in law did not have a good word to say about Japan, because of how they treated prisoners of war. My father in law would never talk about his stories. My mother in law only talked about his life in the Navy. When he died was when she started telling me stories. I was the only one she would talk to. She moved around the country to where he was with two children. She amazed me because she had so much memorabilia and she took it everywhere with her, all around the country! He served 15 years in the Navy before war broke out, because the war broke out he had to stay in the navy until the end of the war. There was no councilling in those days to help the people that had been through so much during the war. Often they came out of the forces finding it difficult to get employment and often had to take quite menial jobs because they needed money for their families. There was no support for the people that you see around today. My father in law was a bright, intelligent man, and he was forced to take a menial job to live. You hear so much about the war, and it鈥檚 heroes, but it is never remember about what happened to those heroes after the war. My father in law took over a pub, but there were no spirits. You couldn鈥檛 get spirits, only beer. Also no food was done in those days in pubs. As you got the spirits elicitly, your business suffered. He wouldn鈥檛 do that, so his business suffered, he didn鈥檛 make any money. My father in laws family were very important to him, that鈥檚 why he would take any job. There was no talk of the war pensions back then.

I remember the stories coming back from Germany about the Jews, but I remember it from a childs point of view. A lot of the information was hidden. It made you scared that it might happen to us if the Germans got over. Really the people around me (the adults) only half believed the stories. It wasn鈥檛 until later on in the war they really believed in the holocaust. It was all so far away.

The sweet ration was 2 ounces. I always choose lemon drops because you could suck them and they lasted longer. Even today I like lemon drops! My brother would eat all his up in one go. It was very funny, when my brother grew up he was still the same! It goes to show that our childhood shaped our personality.

A lot of people I have spoken to concering evacuating to the country have told me they also only stayed a short while. It was such an insecure time you really didn鈥檛 want to be away from your parents. It was your only stability.

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