大象传媒

Eric was brought up not far from his future wife, Mavis, in London (see story by Mavis Carter). He remembers the first twelve months of the War were quiet ~ it was known as 'The Phoney War'. Later on they slept in a community shelter. They also rented a shelter in a garden at the back of their house, as the man had gone away. Eric's Father was in the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) and he remembers an incendiary bomb in the garden and his Father covered it with soil to put it out. In his hurry he hadn't put on his tin hat and when he did it was full of soil! They later had a Morrison shelter in the dining room ~ it had a metal top and cage sides ~ they slept under it, ate off it and also played table tennis on it.

They would cycle different ways to school to see the damage caused by bombs. They went to school one week on and one week off ~ sometimes in shelters. He remembers the sadness and the empty desks when friends had gone and also one of the choir members was killed. The Headmaster at a school where Eric had just started was killed and the Deputy Headmaster was in tears.

His school was evacuated to Exeter, then to Mexborough Grammar School in South Yorkshire during the 'Doodle Bug' raids in 1944 and he had to leave his family for three months.

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