大象传媒

This story is from the diaries of Myrtle Sinton, and has been added to the site with their permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The story was collected by Joyce Gibson, transcribed by Elizabeth Lamont and added to the site by Bruce Logan.
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I had passed the entrance examination for the Civil Service in late 1939 and was offered an appointment in London. There was some discussion with my parents as to the wisdom of working there in view of the fact that war had been declared against Germany. However, my father took the view that it would be a good opportunity to experience working in a city the size and importance of London. My mother, however had reservations, but didn鈥檛 want to stand in my way. A decision was reached that if I didn鈥檛 like being in London they would be happy if I decided to return home.

I left Belfast, complete with gas mask, on the Heysham Boat and finally reached my destination in time to commence work on the 4th December 1939. I was employed in postal headquarters, King Edward鈥檚 Building, which is in the vicinity of St. Paul鈥檚 Cathedral.

My parents had arranged for me to stay in a YWCA in Endsleigh Street, which as quite near Euston Station. While that was a good idea from the travelling point of view it wasn鈥檛 so good once the Germans started their air raids. The cost of staying in the Hostel was 拢1 1s 0d weekly and my first wage was 拢2 1s. 0d. which meant I had the net amount of 拢1 to manage on for the rest of the week!

The first experience I had of the sound of an Air Raid Siren was at 7.20 p.m. on the 15th August 1940 and the All Clear sounded at 7.35 p.m.: a very short time. However, the following day the siren went at 12.20 p.m. with the All Clear at 1.10 p.m. followed by a further warning at 5.10 p.m. which lasted until 6.10 p.m. These raids were short, but increasingly their duration became longer, i.e.:

30th August 1940 9.15 p.m. down to shelter 鈥� All Clear 3.50 a.m. 31st August
2nd Sept 1940 4.25 p.m. did not get the All Clear until 4.00 a.m. on 3rd Sept.

Our evening meal at the hostel was at 7pm and eventually one could have set an alarm clock at that hour for the arrival of the German bombers on most nights from August 1940. The All Clear rarely sounded before 6am.

One night we had been advised by the Warden of the Hostel that we had to leave immediately to make our way to St. Pancras鈥� Church shelter. Well, we tried, but so had many other people in the district 鈥� with the result that we had to seek another Public Shelter. The bombing continued as we made our way along Woburn Place. On the way we had to walk over broken glass and debris and a large carpet lay on the road as though it had been specially laid there, obviously the result of blast damage at one of the three-storey houses nearby. We had also been advised to make sure we had a pair of sensible shoes in case of emergency. However, one of our group apparently forgot and we were amused to see her struggling to pick her way daintily through the wreckage wearing her pink feathered mules!

On Tuesday 17th September 1940 there were several daylight raids during which damage was caused to Bond Street, Oxford Street and the large store of Bourne and Hollingsworth.

On Wednesday 18th September, there were eight daylight raids, and when I got back to the hostel from the office my first thought was to have my meal, try to relax and have an early night. However, it wasn鈥檛 to be. After a few hours sleep the air raid siren sounded at 3am and once again we had to make our way to a Public Shelter. It was just after 6am by the time we got back to the hostel so I decided to have a bath to freshen up before going to work. I was enjoying the luxury of my four inches of bath water (which was rationed and not allowed to be filled above the green painted line), when suddenly there was urgent knocking on the bathroom door and a member of staff shouted 鈥淵ou had better get dressed quickly as three unexploded bombs are in the area鈥�. Needless to say, I didn鈥檛 waste any time. On the evening of that day, we were evacuated to the YMCA Central hall in Tottenham Court Road and had to sleep on the floor without any blankets. We were still there on the nights of the 20th and 21st September, but by this time we had been given mattresses.

The worst aspect of the bombing campaign was the sight of men, women and children making their way each night down to the platforms of the tube stations, carrying their belongings. Not that there was much space or peace for them to settle down. The last tube went through about midnight and the first tube in the morning arrived about 6am, and anyone who has travelled by tube train in London will know the awful screeching sound as it draws to a halt at the platform. I鈥檓 sure as the people made their way out of the station in the mornings they must have wondered if they were going back to their home or to a pile of bricks.

Unknown to the public at large, a further threat to their safety was about to be unleashed in the form of unmanned aircraft, which became known as doodle bugs. I saw my first one on 28th June 1944. The frightening thing about them was they could be seen flying across the skyline and suddenly, without warning, the engine would cut out and the machine would dive-bomb onto buildings or whatever lay in its path. A few weeks later the Germans had improved the technique of these machines whereby when the engine cut out the aircraft didn鈥檛 immediately dive, but carried on a few miles before diving.

Incredibly the doodle bug phenomenon was soon replaced by the arrival of the more powerful V2 rocket but fortunately this was towards the closing stages of the war.

About this time I moved from the Hostel to a residential club situated at 6A Primrose Hill Road, near Chalk Farm, which was a pleasant change of both accommodation and locality. The building was quite large and had once been the home of Adeline Patti, an opera singer. One of the large rooms was known as 鈥淭he Mahogany Room鈥� for obvious reasons because it was beautifully panelled and reflected a soft glow from the smooth wood. Another large room was known as 鈥淭he Common Room鈥�. It contained a piano and a radiogram and was used for social activities and, once a week 鈥� on Wednesdays 鈥� a dance was held. The air crew trainees who were stationed at St. John鈥檚 Wood nearby enjoyed coming to the dances as they made a pleasant change from their usual routine.

Also in October 1941 I transferred to the Admiralty, in Whitehall, and was employed in an office situated sub-basement (for security reasons) in the building known as 鈥淭he Citadel鈥�. At that time Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty and I hoped I might catch a glimpse of him walking along one of the corridors but it wasn鈥檛 to be.

Although I knew the job entailed shift working, I didn鈥檛 realise it would be in the form of watches not unlike the WRNS. The staff were made up of A,B and C Watches and I was a member of C Watch. I found the work very interesting and exciting, especially when the decoding staff brought in messages which had been received from ships at sea. We then typed them for further distribution. However, one night I was on duty when the signal was received stating that HMS Hood had been sunk. I found it very distressing when I started typing the names of the casualties.

I was reminded of the time when HMS Hood and HMS Rodney paid a courtesy visit to my home town of Bangor, County Down, when as children my parents had taken us on one of the Sunday afternoon boat trips out to the warships as they lay at anchor in Bangor bay. When we got on board the HMS Hood we joined the other visitors who were being taken on a tour of the ship to see various items of interest. I remember being over-awed by its immense size, and never thought that, sixty years later, I would be writing about this magnificent ship being sunk in World War II.

In spite of all the bombings and damage which was quite extensive over the years, it was amazing how the theatres, cinemas, concert halls and ballet performances continued to entertain the public who were willing to take their chances. I saw many good plays at various venues and there was one in particular, Arsenic and Old Lace; I鈥檓 nearly sure that was the first ever production. The two actresses who played the parts of the 鈥渟weet old ladies鈥� with the dark secret were excellent. The most memorable film I saw was, of course, Gone with the Wind, which was shown in Leicester Square Film Theatre. The running time was three and a half hours, but fortunately there was an interval during which I was able to purchase a most enjoyable cup of tea! I also went with some friends one evening to the Royal Albert Hall to my first ever Promenade Concert, which I enjoyed 鈥� and had the privilege of watching Sir Henry Wood conducting the orchestra. I had never expressed any interest in ballet, but a friend persuaded me to come along with her to see a performance of Swan Lake. I couldn鈥檛 have had a better introduction to the pleasure of ballet as I watched Margot Fonteyn and Robert Helpman, two of the greatest dancers at that time.

Whenever we had some spare cash at the weekends we treated ourselves to a meal at either the Strand Corner House or Oxford Street Corner House, where we could have a reasonably priced meal and enjoy the music of the resident satin-clad musicians. We really felt we were living it up!! After all, we had never seen anything like that in Bangor or Belfast! Oh, how present day values and expectations have changed.

Although I have dealt mainly with the problems experienced in London, I haven鈥檛 forgotten the cities of Coventry and Belfast where there wasn鈥檛 sustained bombings over a long period, but when the might of the German Luftwaffe was visited on them the devastation was terrible. There is no doubt the Second World War was a people鈥檚 war, because the civilian population was always in the forefront of the conflict.

D Day on the 6th June 1944 saw the invasion of Europe, the turning point of the war. However, it wasn鈥檛 until 7th May 1945 that we were able to claim Victory in Europe. That night, like thousands of others, we made our way down to the West End to join in the celebrations.

I enjoyed my five years in war-torn London, and made many friends there, with some of whom I continue to keep in touch.

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