大象传媒

She was born March 1939 in the Whittington Hospital on Highgate Hill. The family home was very close to the Archway and Junction Road, Upper Holloway. A large extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc all lived within a 10 minute walk.

It is now 1943/4 and the child is a pupil of Duncombe Road Infants School, and it was here that her earliest memories of WW2 occured.

The usual school routine was sometimes interrupted by the sound of a loud whining noise. It was a familiar sound and she was not particularly afraid, but she knew they would be taken down into the warm, silent world that was the primary domain of the School Caretaker. The teacher, named Mrs Tanner would hurry her small pupils out of the classroom and down into the basement. Here they were given musical instruments of one kind or another.

Some children were given drums, flutes, symbols, whisltes, whilst other were handed strings of bells, xylaphones, toy pianos and tambourines. In fact, almost anything that would make a grand noise.

Once all the children were ready with their instruments, everyone was encouraged to bang, sing, stamp their feet and make as much noise as was possible. This wonderful entertainment could last for some considerable time, but, eventually, it was called to a halt, and everyone returned to his or her classroom

Mrs Tanner is the name of my first school teacher, and I am the child. I have such vivid memories of those far off days, but at the time I did now know the reasoning behind it.
The noise was of course, to drown out the sounds of the overhead air raid attacks.

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