大象传媒

EWS. My Brooks family lived at 18 The Green, East Acton, West London. As air raids became worse something new appeared to help save our houses. It was on the small crescent on The Fairway, on the opposite side of The Green from our house. Next to the electricity sub station brick building was a large metal Static Water Tank marked with a yellow box, black corner-to-corner cross, and 鈥楨WS鈥�, which stood for 鈥楨mergency Water Supply鈥�. When the mains water pipes were broken by bombing there would still be water for fighting fires. A grill had to be put over the top to stop us children falling in and drowning. Another static water tank was put next to the imitation 鈥楥oal Office鈥� pill box at the end of Brunel Road (see EAST ACTON: PAVEMENT SIGNS AND PILL BOXES 1940). These iron tanks were everywhere, in streets and parks, even in some large gardens. The 鈥楨WS鈥� sign on an outside wall told the firemen that an emergency tank was inside, or nearby.
Postscript: The sign painted by a gate at Boston Manor House (Ealing, West London) survived for over fifty years.

CLIPPIES
I knew that all London buses were red but now we were seeing different colours and shapes with strange names on the side. So many buses were destroyed or damaged in the air raids that they had to borrow more from all over the country. There were also specially built 鈥楿tility Buses鈥�, just basic with no fancy decoration and painted 鈥楤attleship鈥� grey.

We got on one of these outside the Co-Op shop on the Western Avenue. It had open outside stairs and wooden slatted 鈥榞arden鈥� seats. Mum complained about the seats being uncomfortable. 鈥淒on鈥檛 you know there鈥檚 a war on?鈥� said the 鈥楥lippie鈥� (Conductress who took fares and issued tickets) in a loud, booming voice. Then to no-one in particular: 鈥淪ome flippin鈥� people! Any More Fares!鈥�

Mum blushed and scowled. I tried not to laugh out loud because a sarcastic 鈥淒on鈥檛 you know there鈥檚 a war on!鈥� was HER favourite way of shutting up moaners. I helpfully said 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what you always say!鈥� and got a very black look.

鈥楥lippie鈥� was the nick-name for Conductresses because they 鈥榗lipped鈥� the tickets with a ticket punch, which made a hole to show how far you could go. There was a joke about rationing: Don鈥檛 wrap your meat ration in a bus ticket, it might fall through the hole!

Aunty Audrey (Ames) said she had seen a bus pulling something like a stove on wheels, which was making gas for the bus鈥檚 engine. I saw a car coming from the Scrubs with a metal frame and a large rubber mattress on the roof. A pipe went down the windscreen and into the engine part. I was told that the car was using gas instead of petrol. I wondered where the gas meter was.

SALVAGE
Collecting scrap metal, paper, rubber to make into things for the War was important, and there were many 鈥楽crap Drive鈥� campaigns to collect these things. Salvage was the big patriotic thing. Then someone came up with the silly idea of aluminium 鈥楽aucepans Into Spitfires鈥�. I don鈥檛 suppose anyone seriously thought that aeroplanes could be made from old saucepans but it became a very big, popular campaign thing.

A smartly dressed middle-aged woman with a snooty accent called collecting for this scrap drive and my Mum told her that if she wanted saucepans they had plenty in the shop down the road in the Arcade! In the end she parted with our small milk pan but eventually had to waste precious money replacing it.

It all looked good in newspaper pictures and the newsreels, of course, and I suppose the people who rushed around organising these things felt self-satisfied (Mum said they looked smug), but it couldn鈥檛 have had any real value. Certainly my Mum didn鈥檛 feel that she had helped to build a Spitfire, while trying to heat Jasmine鈥檚 milk without a proper milk pan.

PIG BINS
Not only paper and metal had to be salvaged but now food swill to feed animals, such as pigs, as well. This would help meat rationing. A round metal bin and lid, nick-named the 鈥楶ig Bin鈥�, was put by the lamppost opposite The Bye, beside the path to the public air raid shelter on The Green. This was for everybody鈥檚 food scraps and meat bones. The bin was emptied every few days by unhappy-looking POW鈥檚 in a very smelly lorry.

The bin became very dented and the lid wouldn鈥檛 fit on properly. It also split and smelly yellowy gunge oozed out. People started to avoid walking too close to it because of the smell, unlike the flies which loved it.

It was my job (more war work for me!) to take the food scraps to the pig bin. This wasn鈥檛 bad on cold days but on hot days the bin stunk really bad. Clouds of bluebottles would be buzzing around it, which then dived onto your bucket and buzzed round your head. It was a mad scramble to empty the bucket into the bin, get the lid back on and escape while holding your breath. Pheww! All the other kids would be watching and laughing out loud. Yuk! But their turn would come!

Revised extracts from 鈥楢 Sheltered Childhood ~ Wartime Family Memories of an East Acton Child鈥�

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