´óÏó´«Ã½

I was 11 when war broke out and lived in a 4 storey Victorian semi-detached house off the Banbury Road in Oxford.. I was at The Dragon School then later at Oxford High School which was in a large house in the Banbury Road. My father worked in the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) department and my mother, who had nursed in the First World War helped to man the Red Cross Post.
Before the war we’d had a cook and a house parlour maid. The cook had retired and the maid joined the WRENS, so we had to cope on our own. Washing up at a low stone sink with no rubber gloves and only a few soap flakes in the greasy water was a horrible experience. We did have some help in the kitchen for a while when one day a little Austrian woman came to the door and said ‘I am a ‘victeem’ of Nazi oppression’. She asked if there was any work she could be given. My mother took pity on her and employed her to do some cooking once a week.
Many evacuees come to Oxford from London when the bombing started. They were temporarily housed in the old Ice Rink on the Botley Road — which is now MFI and Halfords.
Everyone had to double up. Kensington High School joined the Oxford High School. Westfield College came to St Peter’s College; the Ministry of Aircraft Production shared accommodation with Merton College. St Hugh’s was turned into a military hospital. The Churchill was an American Hospital. All spare rooms had to be used. We had a series of people living with us.
We didn’t have an air raid shelter in the garden our semi basement was considered safe enough. During the Coventry blitz the fire that lit up the sky could be seen from Oxford 40 miles away.

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