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When War was declared
I was seven years old in April 1939. During the following months I was aware of the conflict in Europe by the concern shown by my parents, who would listen to all news broadcasts and read newspapers to update themselves with the exploits and threats of Adolph Hitler and the Nazis.
When one evening my parents, my brother and I walked down to the Church England Junior Girls
School on the edge of Rosebery Park to be fitted and issued with gas masks, it became obvious
to me that there really was a threat. The gas masks were uncomfortable to wear and made breathing difficult, but we were advised that they could save our lives.
I remember the piece of paper waved by the Prime Minister Mr. Chamberlain which suggested that all was well for us as far as the German threat was concerned. So it came as shock to me when visiting my grandfather's house on Epsom Common to find my grandfather and my young aunts and uncles sitting around the radio listening to the Prime Minister declaring we were now at war with Germany. Whilst my young aunties and uncles contemplated their future in the armed forces, my concern was that I was there with them, whilst my gas mask was at home a mile away. Making my fear apparent imagining an immediate gas attack, I was assured by one of my aunties that I should not worry, if a gas mask was needed she would let me use hers! I never gave a thought to what she might do had there been a gas attack! We were at war - but I survived my first scare and reached home safely.
Not prepared
When war broke out the country was ill prepared. Great efforts were made to save and collect all sorts of items to help the war effort. One of the collections I remember clearly was the removal of all iron railings surrounding large houses and schools to make tanks etc. For the children on the Ebbisham Road Estate the removal of iron fencing surrounding Rosebery Girls’ School playing fields meant easy access to a piece of flat grassland. They did have the Common to play on but the nearest flat playing area was Court Recreation ground, so the accessibility to Rosebery playing area was very attractive.
The school caretaker Mr. Vernon made great efforts in keeping the young people away, but slowly it became too much and providing they kept to the one area he turned a blind eye. The Rosebery Girls’ playing field then became the local meeting place, football pitch, cricket pitch and general play area for the local children. Many happy hours were spent there and little damage caused.
I recall a lawn mower appearing one day to prepare a cricket pitch for a match against Norton Hill boys!
It may have been a little naughty to trespass on the girls ground, but it did provide exercise and relief during those war years.
Bombing Raids
We were now at war - the bombing raids on London had started. We were not prepared!
Those first raids I remember caused great concern for my parents as to our safety. When the warning siren sounded we the children were carried from our beds still asleep, to sit downstairs to see the raid out. As the raids became persistent night after night, a mattress was placed under the kitchen table and there my brother and I spent the night. Eventually an Anderson shelter was dug into our garden which we used often, except when it was filled with water after heavy rain.. The scream of bombs as they dropped, the explosion, the noise of the planes, the ack ack guns locally trying to shoot down the German bombers made it a frightening time.
One bomb I remember landed in Woodcote Side junction with Yew Tree Gardens this was close enough to give us a good shaking in our shelter. It also annoyed my father as the blast moved our house slightly, causing the doors to wedge shut and my father having to force himself into the house in the morning.
The land mine that fell in Chalk Lane, near The Durdans was noisy. The stick of bombs that fell on Epsom Downs one night left craters that are still visible today on the golf course.
Following these raids throughout the war we would often visit the site to collect souvenirs of shrapnel, a piece of parachute or a prize possession of a fin from an incendiary bomb, one of the bombs dropped on Epsom Common.
My collection of souvenirs included Army cap badges, emblems, stripes of British and U.S. forces, bullet cases of 303 and cannon shells. All discarded by my parents when I was doing my National Service!!
In 1944 I was playing football with friends in the grounds of Rosebery Girls School fields when we heard the easily recognizable approach of a doodlebug rocket bomb. Looking towards Epsom Downs we saw the approaching doodlebug belching flame and were amazed to see a Spitfire flying alongside it. The Spitfire closed wing to wing with the doodlebug and as they neared us the Spitfire's wing tip went under the tip of the wing on the bomb and lifted it up causing the bomb to move to its right and dip down to earth, still belching flames it appeared to be bearing down close to us. We all flattened ourselves to the ground and heard the explosion. We found out later that it fell into the old brickfields, which is now Kiln Lane, Epsom (Sainsbury's Supermarket). I have always wondered why the pilot acted in the way he did, the doodlebug could easily have fallen into Epsom High Street and caused deaths and damage. He could only have been lucky for it to explode where it did.
Wartime Schooling
At about the time of the declaration of war I started my first day at the Church of England Junior Boys School, Hook Road, Epsom. The small playground soon became even smaller when brick air raid shelters were built within the boundaries.
When day air raids started, on the sound of the warning siren we would be marched into the shelters and sit quietly awaiting the "All Clear". Just in case we were ever kept in the shelter for a long time, each child was asked to take bar of chocolate to school which would be kept in a large tin, and that tin was taken with us every time we went to the shelters. I remember my bar was a Rowntree York Choc bar - not my favorite, but all my mother could get because of the shortages.
We were never issued with these under stress, but they were returned to us when day raids virtually ceased.
In 1943 I went on to Epsom County Secondary, Lintons Lane. The teachers were mainly elderly men - some past retirement age and mature women, some young and not so mature, who at times would be reduced to tears by some of the boys. As the end to the war became apparent, the male teachers were quickly released from the Armed Forces and our education with discipline took an upturn. I learnt more in my last year at school - than in the previous four years!
During the summer of 1944 shortly after D Day when the U.K. was being bombarded with V1 Doodlebugs and then V2 Rockets, many of us were evacuated. I ended up spending the Summer/Autumn in South Wales. Much of the time was school holidays, and we spent our time playing on the side of the mountains. However we did attend a Welsh School for a few weeks before returning home. I never learnt any Welsh!!

My family and I are still in contact with the daughter of our Welsh hosts and I visit her whenever I am in South Wales - that is over 60 years on.

1945 - The end of the war
As a fourteen year old at the end of the war it was a time of great excitement and expectation. The end of shortages and rationing, families would be reunited and we could all get on with our future.
Parents visited dance halls and pubs, young children had their street parties. We as fourteen year olds felt out of it, so did our own thing by building bon fires on Epsom Common, as many others did. Beacons could be seen all around London. We celebrated the same way on VE and VJ day
BANANAS
Children during World War 11 learnt to make do without the nice things in life such as sweets, chocolates and foreign fruits. What was available was rationed and times were very hard.
Christmas 1943 I joined my cousins and aunties at a family gathering for a festive party. Presents were exchanged and we were making our own fun.
I remember we had a surprise visitor! It was not Father Christmas, but one of our uncles who was in the Royal Navy - a stoker on HMS Bleasedale, a mine sweeper. The ship had just returned from the West Indies, the crew had been given shore leave at short notice, and he managed to make his way to the party. We were all thrilled to see him, but even more thrilled when he produced two bananas. He had managed to keep them from his trip across the Atlantic.
We had not seen a banana for about four years. The skins were not bright yellow but beginning to turn black. That did not matter - they were BANANAS!
Eventually a senior auntie took charge and decided to cut them into equal portions to share amongst the children and adults. Much care was taken as we stood and watched to make sure of fair play. We each received about half an inch of banana to eat - wonderful!!
The skins were saved and hung with string like Xmas decorations from the front windows of the house to show our neighbours that we had eaten ......... ...

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