大象传媒

I was born in Long Street in Ipswich in 1936, but due to my father serving with the army, I had moved with my mother to Cecil Road to live with my grandparents.

We were sleeping as the bomb dropped and were woken by a thud as it landed close to the house. The bomb later exploded, shifting the house from it鈥檚 foundations which resulted in the house having to be demolished.

My grandmother having been to see what had happened told us to go to the shelter in the garden, and soon afterwards a warden arrived and ordered us to vacate the premises. As she was pregnant at the time my mother had to quickly find the necessary clothes for the baby, while helping as best she could with provisions for the rest of us.

I can remember that we had to make our way to Anglesea Road on what was a dark night and were taken from there to the mansion on Chantry Park. There were many other people at the mansion when we got there; a number of them looked as if their faces were covered in soot. We stayed for two nights in the mansion and were then given a temporary home in High Street opposite the museum, before being properly re-housed back in Cecil Road.

Despite the war, I had a very happy childhood enjoying the company of my two aunts, who also lived with us at the time; with the addition of my young sister Maureen, the result of my mother鈥檚 pregnancy. The returning home of my father after the war having been seriously burnt in a tank and at one time reported missing was of course a joyous occasion for all of us.

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