大象传媒

Our family lived five minutes walk from Hornchurch Aerodrome Spitfire Station 65sqd. Our street was lined with RAF lorries and most nights and days the sky was full of barrage balloons. A vivid memory is nightly raids. We were huddled under the indoor Morrison Table shelter. Caged all round. And up to me to comfort my small sister Rene (3) who cried all the time with fear at the noise of the German bombs. I was only 5 myself.
The two older children did their best to cheer us up by singing. My mother would be frantic because my dad would stand at the front door watching the action in the night sky. We went to school but sirens were the order of the day and we were marched off to brick built shelters clutching our beacon readers, we all managed to learn to read.
Dad had an allotment so we were well fed. He also had a pig also well fed as pig bins were attached to some lamp post鈥檚. Mum had three ration books at the Co-Op and 3 books at Sainsburys in Romford.
Extra coupons at school if our feet were big? Cocao powder and dried egg a treat, also a meagre sweet ration. In spite of all the tribulation of the war, thankfully we all survived and now Hornchurch Aerodrome is now a country park. I have walked my grandchildren where the shout was 鈥淪CRAMBLE鈥� A grateful thank you to all those brave men.
Many of the streets around the Aerodrome are named after famous pilots.
Baoer, Deere, Malan, Tuck, Leathart and Finucane. The junior school on the site is called Mitchell 鈥� Spitfire 鈥� designed..

This story was submitted to the 鈥淧eoples War Site by Rod Aldwinckle of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Patricia Anderson and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the terms and conditions of the site.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.