大象传媒

Doreen Jones

Civilian

Boscome to Streatham

This story was submitted to the People's War site at Banstead History Centre on behalf of Mrs Doreen Jones. It has been added to the site with the author's permission and she fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

When war broke out, my parents were running a hotel in Boscombe. In due course this was requisitioned by the Army and the family was split up: my brother and I went to live with our grandparents and aunt in Streatham, our mother to St John's Ambulance at Moundsmeer in Buckinghamshire, caring for wounded soldiers under Lady Mountbatten, and our father back to work in the City, being over-age for the Army. He joined the Home Guard in Streatham, which involved among other things manning the ack-ack guns at Anerley. Our aunt became one of the fire-watchers in our road and I clearly remember the day the stirrup-pump arrived and we all went into the garden for a practice session.

The front garden had an iron gate and railings. It wasn't long before these were removed for the war effort. Likewise, the large back lawn was dug up in response to the "Dig for Victory" campaign and we grew our own vegetables.

Early on, there were dog-fights overhead and then the Blitz: bombs falling all round to the accompaniment of the big guns. I don't ever remember feeling afraid - I was far more scared of thunder and lightning! Our aunt made us siren suits (like Winston Churchill) which were cosy and practical for night-time raids. Remember, there was no central heating then. Wooden shutters had been put up at the large kitchen windows and for some time Michael and I slept on a mattress under the big wooden table at night. Later, we all used the cellar, which involved lifting up the trapdoor in the cupboard under the stairs and going down another flight of stairs - exciting! We were lucky only to suffer a few broken windows when one of the first of the Vl's fell at the end of our road.

One of the fun things we children did was to collect shrapnel from the garden and also at some time the black-and-silver "ribbons" the Germans dropped to try and disrupt the radar - with little success, I fancy.

I had to go to school by train and the trains ran well and on time! Everyone had to carry gasmasks in a square cardboard box on a string over the shoulder. There were practices in the assembly hall, probably at the beginning of each term, and I remember the smell of new rubber when trying mine on. Every child had a tin of "iron rations" at school (things like chocolate) in case of a prolonged air-raid during school hours. I particularly remember one day going down to the brick-built shelter in the playground clutching my tin after the warning went. This disruption to the time-table was exciting rather than fearful and the hope was that it would last long enough for the "iron rations" to be broken into before the All Clear sounded.

Speaking as a child at that time, life was as normal as possible: school, Sunday School, Guides, etc. There were queues for certain foods which I was sometimes detailed to join (a mixture of tedium, joy at success or disappointment when whatever it was ran out before I got to the front). Then there was the shop run by the WVS (The "R" was added after the War for services rendered, I think). This was for the exchange of children's clothes and you never knew what you might end up with but it helped eke out the clothing coupons. All in all, I was young enough to live the experience but not old enough to worry about providing meals out of very little or how to carry on without knowing when it would all end.

DOREEN JONES

December 2005

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