大象传媒

Anne McKane

June 1944. I was sharing a flat with two other girls. It was in Highgate, one of the highest places in London. In addition to that we had the top flat in a three storey building with a wonderful view over London.

We could see the Kent Hills in the distance. We had the usual raids with the 鈥榮iren alerts鈥� and the 鈥榓ll clears鈥� 鈥� but one night it was different. About every fifteen minutes there would be 鈥榓n alert鈥�, then fifteen minutes later the 鈥榓ll clear鈥�. It was strange to say the least, it was so regular. Looking out of the window we could see all these explosions over the Kent Hills and other areas and it lasted all night 鈥� being June it was day light from 2am or so.

At that time I worked in the Daily Express in Fleet Street, so there was a lot of talk about what was going on, but there was no mention of it in the news or the newspapers. After two or three days eventually it was disclosed that it was the V1 bombs, unmanned planes 鈥� or doodle-bugs as they were nicknamed. The locations were not mentioned because they didn鈥檛 want the Germans to know how successful the bombs were!! As time went on the bombs were landing all over the place. One nightwatch man reported 275 in one night alone plus those that fell in the day time. It was serious, so much destruction all over London but especially in the East End.

My flat mate Isobel from Belfast and I went to the Highgate Village underground shelter every night 鈥� it held about 60 bunks. It was like a tunnel underground in a square just wide enough for bunk beds and room to pass by. The beds were just wooden frameworks with slats and a piece of canvas over them, three deep i.e. one bottom, one middle and one top- no mattress or comforts. Water seeped along the floors and though it was June it was extremely cold. Everyone brought their own blankets and clothes down every night and took them home in the morning. You kept all your clothes on including a coat. Anyway it was mixed company. I must say the locals were great 鈥� they were always jolly and could see a funny side to everything. One lady we got to know well was from the village; she owned the Rose & Crown pub. She was from Dublin. She always brought down a 鈥渨ee drap of the crater鈥� as she said (whiskey) to keep herself going. Isobel and I were offered some too but it wasn鈥檛 in our line! Sleep was often scarce as we could still here the sirens. Apart from that you can imagine what it was like when some of the 60 men and women started snoring and it echoed all around the tunnel, also there were two toilets (one at the end of each side of the tunnel) and they were metal chemical toilets 鈥� you could say they were very musical as every sound echoed and multiplied round the whole place!! However we felt safe and that was all that mattered.

After about three months of the shelter we were very tired and decided to stay one weekend in our flat. We got to bed early but from mid night on, the Alert Siren went on every 15 minutes of so and we could hear the drone of the bomb coming so we had to dash for the stairs. Eventually we did get some sleep but suddenly we were wakened by the sound of a Doodlebug (one always knew the sound of it) and looking out of the window we could see one coming straight towards us. They always kept in a straight line.

It was getting low and the big red flame was coming out of the tail, a sign that it was going to crash soon. It just skimmed the top of our roof, crossed the row of houses on our road and came down on two houses on the other side which fortunately were empty. We had managed to get half way down our stairs. The explosion blew our door in and broke some windows but we were very lucky!! So it was back to the shelter again!

In addition to the 鈥渄oodle bugs鈥� the Germans had developed the V2鈥檚, the rockets. You never heard them coming, just the enormous explosion when they landed and they went very deep into the ground. One fell on Smithfield Market, not too far from St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral, in the morning when people were queuing up for meat. It killed 115 people there, mostly women!

I must say I had great admiration for the Londoners. No matter what happened they turned up for work. One man came in one morning apologising for being late because he and his wife were blown out of their bed out of their own house into the next street, and he was in at work just the same. Sometimes the people came into work all covered in mud and wet, having had to lie down in the gutter because of the bombs. They turned up for work no matter what happened. They wouldn鈥檛 give in. It was a rule in the office that if anyone fell asleep at their desk, no one was to waken them until they had a good rest. They were so deprived of sleep.

I remember one day in August 1944 (my birthday). I had got some raspberries and strawberries so I decided I would make jam.

Isobel was at work that day. As it turned out we had a bad thunder storm. It was very dark with lots of rain but I started making my jam. Well the Doodle bugs started again. Nearly every 15 minutes the alert would go. I could here the bomb coming so I had to turn off the gas and rush for the stairs. Well it took most of the afternoon to get that jam made. The thunder and lightening lasted all day. 6 o鈥檆lock came and there was no sign of Isobel, 10 o鈥檆lock came and still no sign of Isobel. I was so worried that she might have got caught up in a raid somewhere. Eventually near 11pm she came home. She had been closed in the Underground from 6pm. The Air Raid Wardens wouldn鈥檛 let anyone out of the underground because of so many bombs. I was so glad to see her safe! It was a birthday I would never forget!!

Yet through it all I loved London and the local people and we had some nice times there.

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