大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Helen Avey of the 大象传媒 London Team on behalf of Marina Green and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was 4 years old in 1939. I was playing on my tricycle in King & Queen Street Walworth SE17 with my friend when this awful noise started and suddenly I was alone in the street. I ran home leaving my tricycle on the pavement. To get home I ran to the parallel road East Street. My grandfather owned a fruit and veg shop in this market street. My grandfather caught me in his arms, ran across the road to the communal shelter, which was under the park. Calling my grandmothers name, when gran appeared he yelled her catch this one and tossed me down a flight of concrete stairs into her arms. I sometimes still recall my first taste of flight.

We had an Anderson shelter in the back garden. Dad was away from home most of the time being on essential war work. When the night raids came I remember my uncle Bop having seen his own family safe, came to my mother to help with my elder sister and myself. He would get me out of bed and carry me to the Anderson with his tin hat on my head - a good job I had a pair of ears - when things got really bad we slept in the underground - Lambeth North station. I don't know why this one as the Elephant and Castle tube was nearer.

We lived in a terrace back to back house in East Street. One day we went home to find we now lived in a semi-detached! We stayed in London for the duration, my sister and I not being evacuated. When the buzz bombs arrived we spent a lot of time in our Anderson. One afternoon my mother, my sister and I went to play in our shelter, my dad kept watch - he could not bear to be cooped up. When eh shouted 'OK, girls I'm coming in this one looks like ours', at which my mother shouted 'Oh dear God', she clung to the door my sister clung to her yelling let daddy in, my dad was pulling the other side and didn't win as my mum was a big lady, I was in the corner crying - Dad yelled OK (or words to that effect) crouched against the house wall the only damage we received was a pane of glass falling out of the upstairs window and breaking across dad's back and he didn't' even get a scratch. When it was over and the bomb damage repair men came from the council - mum told them' I don't know why we have been so lucky, I have no damaged to report', she closed the door, it didn't slam when this rumble occurred when the dust settled we found every ceiling upstairs had fallen in - Mum opened the front door again, called the men back as they hadn't got far and said 'I've changed my mind will you come and look at this.'

There are many others but I don't want to bore anybody or take up too much room. Thank you for letting me tell you my stories - there was a lot of laughter as well as oh so many tears.

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