大象传媒

(As told by their daughter, Jean Murphy).

Ivy and Ted Murphy were living in Stratford when the Second World War began in 1939.
I was two years old at the time, so I cannot remember the early stages of the war, but my parents had vivid memories of the Blitz.
Before war was declared my Dad erected an Anderson shelter in the garden.The shelter was made of corrugated sheeting , and it saved our lives.It was named after the man who invented it.
When the air raid siren sounded we went into the shelter and stayed there until the all clear siren sounded.On most occassions this was all night and Londoners got used to having their sleep interupted.
The London Blitz was when the German Airforce,(the Luftwaffe),bombed the whole of the East End unceasingly every night.
The word 'blitz' comes from the german word 'blitzkrieg' meaning violent, sustained attack.
The East End of London was particularly badly hit because of the Royal Albert and Royal Victoria Docks.
Many thousands of Londoners were killed during that awful period, and we ourselves were bombed out of our home three times.On all three occasions we were living in Stratford.
I am not sure where we were living the first time it happened, but my parents told me we later moved to Maryland Square.We wre there for one week and then an incendiary bomb fell on our house and we lost every bit of furniture.
Dad worked for Young and Marten Builders Merchants in Stratford Broadway, and they generously provided furniture for us when we moved to a house in Vernon Road.We lived there for about two years until a bomb exploded on our house.The next morning when we emerged from the shelter the house and furniture were reduced to rubble.
Dad could hear ticking, which he took to be an unexploded bomb.Very carefully we made our way out onto the road but the ticking seemed to be getting louder.Then suddenly we saw it - our alarm clock had been thrown clear in the explosion and was lying in the road ,miraculously,still working!!
My parents decided to leave Stratford and rented the ground floor of a house in Manor Park.Dad began working at the Gas Light and Coke Co. in Brolmley-By-Bow.It was an essential sevice which had to be maintained by civilians who were not in the armed forces.
My early school days were spent at Avenue Road Infant School.
One day there was a gaping hole in the wall where a bomb had landed. This mant it was unsafe for us to attend school for a number of weeks.I remember feeling very happy at the prospect of no school,and very unhappy when temporary accomadtion was found for us at another school!!

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