大象传媒

Life became as normal as possible in a war situation food rationing provided many moments of exictement popular
items were in short supply, so when a shop had a supply of what was considered to be a luxury item word would spread like wildfire and a queue would form even if it were not true. Life became as normal as possible in a war situation, food rationing provided many Moments of excitement popular
I was still attending school and at lunchtime I would get on a bus and go to a transport caf茅 where my mother had arranged for me to have a meal all paid for. I disliked it intensely it was called Lils Caf茅, and Lil never smiled she wore what I realise now were BI-focal glasses and her eyes looked massive particularly when she looked at me, I also disliked sitting with complete strangers being much smaller than they were.
On one occasion a friend and I went to the local park to swim in the pond and while we were thus engaged we heard roar of aeroplanes engines on looking up we saw a spitfire chasing a German aircraft. At that moment a warden run across the park shouting for us to take cover, my friend and I hurried to leave the pond but our feet kept sliding on the algae at the bottom of the pond. At that moment we could hear bullets hitting a school roof next to the park we finally left the pond, but that was my scariest moment.
People were now much more efficient in the ways of civilians at war; the highlights of their days were when they heard from loved ones in the forces overseas. It was now nineteen forty-four and there was much optimism among the population. The battle of Britain had been won, the Luftwaffe had stopped the nightly air raids, and the Germans were suffering in the Russian winter. Surely now the end of the war was in sight, little did we know what was to come? We very soon learned it was labelled the V1, the flying bomb. These were aircraft without pilots the noise from the engine was horrendous. I was to have first hand experience of this weapon. My family had stopped going to the communal shelter when the battle of Britain ended and things had quietened down we decided to stay in bed unless raids got worse. My sister had by this time joined the WAAF (Women鈥檚 Auxiliary Air Force) my brothers were abroad in the army my parents and myself were at home.
We had retired to bed and as usual the air raid siren sounded but where previously things had remained quiet, this time I heard a drone that got louder and louder until it sounded right overhead then silence. I wanted to get up but I could not move I lay tense waiting for what was to happen suddenly there was an almighty explosion and I felt a heavy weight cover the bed, the room was thick with dust. I jumped out of bed and I heard my mother screaming Bob are you alright, answer me I called out I was ok, but I was walking on plaster and glass and I was aware of how cold it was. We were lucky none of us was seriously hurt, my Father had gone downstairs before the Bomb struck and was about to open the back door when it came away from its frame and struck him at the side of his face. By this time all the people were out in the street trying to see the damage in the darkness, one old lady was kneeling in the road praying. Our next door neighbour run into my mother, crying help me it鈥檚 Sandra,

6
She was a three year old little girl and a piece of glass had sliced into her lip but amazingly she wasn鈥檛 crying I realise now she was in shock. The Emergency services were soon on the scene giving first aid to the injured and handing out hot drinks. Workmen were already boarding up windows and clearing debris from the houses, it was about 1am and everybody joined the workmen in getting the houses fit to occupy. But nobody went to bed that night; it had been a flying bomb that had dropped it had fallen about a hundred yards away from our house. The following morning people on essential work went to their jobs, everyone else stayed to clear the houses and street of debris including the children, who not realising the gravity of the situation thought it very exciting and anyway it gave us a day off from school. Gradually things got back to normality. I left school that year and was directed by the employment department to work in the Royal Small Arms Factory as a messenger between the departments of this vast factory, I felt quite grown up But slightly apprehensive. On my first day I was stopped at the entrance by a factory policeman who asked me for Identification once satisfied he directed me to the reception office.once inside I was escorted to the Managers office, where my duties were explained and a tall gangly youth was detailed to escort me round the factory to show me where certain departments were situated, as we were leaving one workshop there was a shout and an older boy followed us out and punched my escort in the face he then returned from whence he鈥檇 come. why didn鈥檛 you stop him hitting you I asked his face went Red and he mumbled a reply and carried on walking I then decided that diplomacy was the better part of valour when entering that department.
I soon learned my way around and carried out my messenger duties to the satisfaction of my superiors. I also discovered the Air raid warning system consisted of coloured lights, Yellow meant be prepared and Red was the signal to evacuate the department and take cover. On one occasion I was between departments when the Red light flashed and I heard the familiar sound of a flying Bomb. I ran to a brick shelter and stood at the door I saw it fly over the factory toward London its engine drowning any other sounds then soon after a second one followed. There were several Air raids that day and twenty flying bombs were recorded In London and the Home counties. During Air raids the managers were informed of where the bombs had fallen, anyone living in those areas could go home immediately.
Everyone working in the Small Arms Factory was issued with a pass to enter and leave, we also had to carry our Gas mask in a cardboard box, hundreds of people worked there the work force consisted mainly of women. The men who worked in the factory were either to young or to old for conscription. On reaching the age of eighteen men were called up for the armed services, women were not required to join the forces but they could volunteer and many did.
I enjoyed my work but at times I did not have enough to keep me occupied I had to sit in an office and wait for memo鈥檚 to deliver I became very bored and wished I could leave and work in the open air.
The following day was a lovely summer morning so I suggested to Derek a friend I met every morning, that we skip work and cycle out into the country he readily agreed so with spirits raised we set off cycling toward the Cambridge road. as we cycled we discussed what we would say to our employer the following morning.( continued )

7 We had been travelling for about one hour when we stopped for a rest and sat on a farm gate at the side of the road there were no houses in sight and we agreed this really was the countryside. Suddenly we heard voices coming from the direction of the adjacent field we looked to see some men building a haystack we decided to ask them if we could help. We got closer to them and realised they were speaking a foreign language and we felt very unsure of ourselves, we were about to turn away when a voice asked in perfect English what we wanted. I looked and saw a man sitting close by, I replied we would like to help build the Haystack you can if you like he replied but you won't understand that lot he said, pointing to the other men because they are Italian prisoners of war and cannot speak English.
Having given us this information we joined the men, who we learned were soldiers, and that he was the farmer. I suggested to him that they might escape he replied there is no fear of that because they are safe here and they did not want the war anyway.
The farmer then provided us with pitchforks and we joined the Italians building the Haystack. After a short time the Farmer blew a whistle and all the men walked to a large hut with Derek and I following. Once inside the hut one of the prisoners served what looked like hot water but was probably soup. He then opened a large tin labelled Spam and proceeded to slice up the contents and walking round the table placed it in the hot soup it looked awful but the men ate hungrily, my friend and I declined the offer to join them.
After lunch we returned with them to the Haystack, the sun was high in the sky it was a beautiful day and was the first time I had worked outside a building since leaving school we said our goodbyes to all the men and was about to leave when the farmer called to us to wait a moment he walked over to us and gave us two shillings each
(10 pence in the decimal system) we were thrilled and thanked him profusely because at our work in the factory we were paid fourteen shillings for a forty hour week, and at the farm we had worked about four hours in total. The experience at the farm made me realise how unhappy I was at the Small Arms factory and I was determined to leave I wanted to work outside to enjoy the Summer, and witness the seasons changing instead of being entombed in four walls every day. The very next day I applied for my release from the Factory and handed the letter to my superior he expressed surprise saying he was disappointed with my decision to leave, but he would submit it to the labour office. After work that day I cycled home feeling very happy and told my parents that I was going to change my job. I was nearly Fifteen years old and the news from the battlefields was good, but life at home was still very hard with people worried about their loved ones fighting abroad, rationing was still acute and we still had the blackout blinds to avoid giving enemy planes a target. The streets would clear whenever 大象传媒 News was broadcast on the radio, and every one in my street dreaded to see a telegram boy cycle down our road, It usually heralded bad news for someone. (Telegrams were telegraphed letters in yellow envelopes used frequently by the War office to inform families of the fate of their loved ones) It was in fact a Telegram that informed my Parents that my brother Harry was missing in action. My mother collapsed into my father鈥檚 arms.
The bad news soon spread and neighbours rallied round to give support to my family.during the following weeks my mother lost a great deal of weight and looked very ill My father and I did all we could to console her.

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