´óÏó´«Ã½

The Balloon Goes Up
By
George Highmore
It was the third of September 1939, and a fine sunny day which would normally have seen Malcolm Perry and me playing Cowboys and Indians among the gorse and hazel bushes of the common land at the end of our road. Malcolm had come to call for me put but had been told to sit still in my Dad’s old armchair while the whole family listened to the wireless.
We were both nine years old didn’t immediately understand the importance of the words spoken by Mr Chamberlain that day. So, a respectable time after the speech was over and the adults had talked a lot about the First War and Zeppelins and other things, we pleaded for and got permission to go out. It was only a two minute walk to the common land at the end of Haycroft Road but in those few short steps we slowly realised that the Prime Minister’s words telling us that we were now at war with Germany were much more important than we had realised. I can remember a little twinge in my stomach as we crossed the stream which bordered the end of our road and gave access to the common. But we climbed some trees, as we usually did to prove our skills and finally sat astride a massive branch to let the next move announce itself
Then the first Air Raid Siren of World War Two sounded and we sat frozen to the spot not quite knowing what to do. ‘Let’s go home,’ said Malcolm. I agreed but didn’t let on that I was more than a little frightened as we slid down the gnarled trunk of the old Elm and trotted back towards the stream. Then, suddenly, I saw something that turned my stomach completely round.
‘A bomb,’ I screamed, pointing wildly in the general direction of RAF Chessington, some three miles away. Malcolm didn’t look at first and we both ran faster towards my house. Then, when there was no bang, we stopped and looked back.
‘That’s no bloody bomb coming down,’ said Malcolm, pointing to a big silver shape in the sky, ‘it’s a barrage balloon, going up.’
We were all going to learn the difference between balloons going up, and bombs and V1s and V2s coming down, but not just yet.

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