大象传媒

I was born in 1936, being just 3 years old when the war started. My earliest
memories are fairly hazy but some specific events do remain clear in my
mind to this day. It was certainly an
unforgetable childhood, full of some
frightening, as well as happy experiences.
I recall starting school as a toddler
and going down into the air raid shelter with all the other young children, I
will never forget the damp cold atmosphere, the earthy smell, and above
all,the intense darkness. As we filed through those dark cold passages,some
child would shout out, ' The Bogey Man
is down here'! It was really scary to
five year old kiddies such as myself.
About this same time,I had an experience
that is indelibly planted in my mind,of
which I can remember every detail.
My Mother,my Sister and I were in a
local recreation ground,sitting on the grass, enjoying the summer sunshine, a
nearby paddling pool filled with children having great fun and all was
tranquil and peaceful. Suddenly, without
any warning a plane appeared, it's
machines guns blazing, it flew right
over the top of us, so low that we could
clearly see the pilot in his cockpit.
I remember looking up and seeing the
sinister black cross on the wings and
how terrified I felt.
It was a German Messerschmidt, I'll never know how it came to be flying
over an English playing field shooting at children.
A nearby gasholder had been hit and was on fire, but to my knowledge none of the
children or adults on that playing field
were hurt.
The clearest memory of all is that of
my dear Mother,taking my Sister and I
and laying on top of us to protect us,
as the plane flew over firing.

At home we had a Morrison shelter,also
an Anderson shelter,they weren't used
much as we had very few air raids.
However,they were great places for us
children to play in.
We were all issued with gas masks,
claustrophobic things, stinking of rubber. I was told I had a Mickey Mouse
one,although I can't remember this
myself.
We lived in Salisbury,Wiltshire and
although we rarely experienced the
war first hand, we were never far from it.
Salisbury Plain to the north,Southampton
20 miles to the south meant we were
never too far from the action.The sound
of the artillary was a common place thing.
The barrage balloons fascinated me as
a child. I would watch them being
raised from their mobile platforms and
climb higher and higher until they were
way up in the sky.
Father was in the Home Guard,for a time
he was a Sergeant.He worked as a lorry
driver collecting milk from the farms
in churns. I used to love going with
him in his lorry.
One day he gave a lift to a suspicious
looking character. Dad realised that
the guy might be a spy so when he dropped the man off,dad phoned the
authorities and the man was subsequently
arrested.
Then the Yanks came to town.
They were great, so kind to us kids.
We used to run behind their lorries,
shouting ' Got any gum chum' and they
tossed chewing gum and sometimes sweets,
out from the back of their trucks.
We all loved them,Once they took us to
the local guildhall and gave us a
slap up party.Wonderful food, we were
all sick that day.

At home, the wireless was a great source
of,not only entertainment,but of comfort
also. News of the war overshadowed all
other things.
I once remember saying to my Father,
'would the news bulletins end when the war was over.Thinking that the news of the war was the only news that existed.
The hardship of those days was really
acute for many. we weren't well off
in our family but we never went short
of food or the vital necessities of life.
We had to queue for almost everything,
as most things were rationed.
One thing I recall doing which I dislked
intensely,was queuing for our fuel in
the Winter,and to supplement our coal we would buy coke from the local gasworks.
My Sister and I would take an old pram
and wait in a long queue to have the old pram filled with coke.The gasworks was
flled with acrid fumes and hot particles
in the air,I think I was about 8 or 9
years old at the time and I really dreaded doing this.
I also recall my Mother working as a
volunteer in a local church hall where
wounded servicemen came to have teas
and social funcions. It's strange
the odd facts that the mind retains,
I remember all the wounded soldiers
wore pale blue uniforms.
During the early part of the war,I
remember whilst out with my Mother
I would count all the soldiers,sailors
and airmen I saw ,as an attempt to
comfort myself and be reassured that
we had enough men to protect us,if
the Germans did invade us. Needless to
say I was a very nervous child.
When the war did eventually finish,
what a time of joy it was.The street
parties began and everyone was rejoicing
in the victory celebrations
Childhood Memories
David King

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