大象传媒

In 1939 I was aged 6 and lived in Castle Haven Road, Camden Town, London.

Living near as we did to a main line railway station, we were of course a potential target for air raids and bonbing during the war and we had several narrow escapes.

My father worked at Henly's - a well known car company, which was quite close to where we lived. He was also an Air Raid Warden for the company. The company built a large underground air raid shelter for employees and their families and each night we would pack up our essential belongings and spend the night in the shelter together with many others. It was not very comfortable but we did at least feel safer.

In the morning we would be up early and make our way back to our house that was within walking distance. We were always relieved to find the house still standing although on one particular night several houses on the other side of the road had been bombed and quite a few of our neighbours killed.

My mother would get me ready for school which was Holy Trinity School just along the road. A young girl as I remember would take me to school each day. My mother and father would then go off to work - and each night we would go to the shelter again. This became a regular pattern of life.

On another occasion during an air raid I remember hearing a very loud noise coming nearer and nearer. I looked out of the window and saw everything on the garden surface gradually being lifted up into the air - paper, earth, leaves and small items, it was very scary then suddenly there came a terrific explosion. Nothing could be seen at all, it was just like an incredible fog followed by lots of noise. We heard afterwards that a landmine had dropped on a sweet factory called 'Dells' which had been situated at the top of our road and many hundreds of people died.

Soon after this I was sent to Yorkshire to stay with friends as my mother was becoming more and more concerned for my safety but after a few weeks I became homesick for my family so my mother came to fetch me home.

On arrival back at King's Cross Station an Air Raid was in progress and all of us passengers getting off the train were told on a loud speaker to lie face down on the platform and not to get up until it was safe. We discovered afterwards this was because a flying bomb, which became known as a 'Doodlebug' was passing over the station. No-one ever knew exactly where it might land because when the engine cut out it would glide for so long and you just hoped and prayed when it landed it didn't have your name on it. It was very nerve-racking. It came down quite near and we were so relieved it missed the station.

Two years later we moved to Hampstead just a few miles away. One day, during another air raid, a Doodlebug landed in one of the ponds on Hampstead Heath very near to our house in Parliament Hill. The explosionn created a lot of damage. I was on my own at the time and it was very frightening waiting for the plane's engine to stop, again wondering where it would land. The blast from the Doodlebug affected our house causing broken windows with furniture to be thrown all over the place. My bedroom was quite badly damaged. I was so very lucky not to have been in there at the time.

Whilst living in Hampstead there had been many nights when we would pack up our belongings and go to the Hampstead Tube Station where we would sleep on the platforms. The platforms were packed with people and sometimes it was difficult to find a place. Because this underground station was very deep, it was considered comparatively safe although it was far from comfortable or quiet but we did not bother about that at the time.

I attended New End School in Hampstead and often during our lessons the Air Raid sirens would sound and we were all taken to certain safer rooms to continue our lessons where we remained until the 'all-clear' sent. Then we would go back to our classes and try to concentrate on our lessons once again. This made for a very interrupted education during our most important years.

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