大象传媒

I was nine when the war started. I was playing at the rec on Colleridge Road and another child ran over and said 'the wars started!'. We thought we'd see Germans marching down the street - but we didnt.
We all got issued gas masks and ration cards, i think the cards came from Guild Hall. We had to practice putting on the gas masks in the class room. I was quite frightened of my mask. The next thing was German bombs; they made a different sound. So my mother put us in a cupboard under the stairs with our gas masks out of their boxes and on our laps.
I was at Romsey School, then Central School on Parkside after the 11+. We had evacuees in our home in Hobart Road - a mother and 2 boys from East London. It was a bit difficult - my mother was a widow and had to go to work to keep us all. She cleaned for people. In those days there werent many jobs for a woman. She couldnt work in a factory because she had to be at home for us children.
My friend Beryl and i used to tap dance. We won all sorts of shows. At the end of the war there were loads of street parties and we got invited to them all.

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