大象传媒

I was the youngest child born in January 1939, the war was declared in September 1939.
My first memories are of hearing the air raid sirens, being told to leave our beds, run downstairs and try to sleep on the mattress shared with my two brothers under the shelter built round my dad's billiard table.
I guess we slept, that I don't remember, but I do recall feeling very nervous when passing the front door expecting a German soldier to burst in any moment complete with helmet, and gun us down. My parents told us very little, or maybe me, as I was so young.
We lived then in Walton-on-Thames and I remember there was a raid on a local factory which burst into flames and caused damage to the adjoining local Walton Church. As we all lived in the "black out" which excludes lights on and "blinds" drawn as we called curtains at that time, the reflection on my bedroom wall was very vivid and to a young child, very frightening. The 'all clear' siren was greatly appreciated!
My father who had served in the 1914-18 war, invalided out with a Military Cross was serving in the Home Guard and was often out at night on vigil which did nothing for his health, he had experienced mustard gas which weakened his lungs.
As the bombs increased, my mother, the boys and I evacuated to a dairy farm in Somerset to relatives for the Summer of 1942 which held happy memories as my cousin and I won a fancy dress contest, Susan was Little Bo Peep and I was Little Boy Blue, handmade by mum, complete with a REAL cows' horn! The American allies were stationed nearby and supplied we children with chewing gum.
My older brother Ray remembers doing a bit of gardening for an elderly neighbour and was very upset when returning to find she had suffered an air raid and was killed. Also an incendiary bomb gutted a furniture shop in the high street. It wasn't all misery as we both enjoyed the penny buns for sale at the local Walton football ground where we were accompanied by our father to watch his favourite Chelsea Team, and swinging on the steel railings and running through large pipes stored by the tea wagon.
My eldest brother Clayton reminded me of the different types of gas masks on hand for the family, he had an adult size the same as mum and dad, Ray had a Mickey Mouse style with a flappy nose and I was issued with a red cot style apparatus. Also Clayton remembers saving for the War Effort, there was the Mile of Pennies passing the National Savings Shop all the way to the Half Way Shopping Parade and to the Walton Train Station. We saved 6p and 1 shilling saving stamps.
We lost my mother's father through using his 'pedal cycle' in the blackout in 1940 fracturing his skull on encountering a motor car.
Food was rationed, and as my dad was ill, we had extra milk and butter. I can still remember the powdered egg, Spam, corned beef which I still like, eggs preserved in isinglass (not very sucessfully) from our own chickens, rabbits reared in the garden (not as pets!) and whale meat which didn't go down too well!
We were encouraged to grow our own veg and salad and we were lucky to own a Victoria plum tree and various apple and pear trees. We were never hungry. Sweets were scarce, a real treat was two or three pieces of chocolate to be savoured and lingered over, chewy toffees or liquorice allsorts. Toys and books were in short supply, I treasured a hardback pop-up book my dad bought me, and small dolls called Gog and Magog and a second hand large dolls pram from my wealthy cousin living in Weybridge.
With offcuts of wood from Uncle Bill's factory my dad made dolls' furniture and was able to sell his wares at Bentalls in Kingston. I actually remember sitting down for tea at Bentalls as a family and hearing the siren, all of us diving under the table till the all clear. I also recall using the public air raid shelters and waiting till we were safe to move.
We moved to Patcham, Sussex for a year where there was a shelter built into the garden, about 1946 and then to Hove where I've lived ever since.
Rationing continued for a few more years not only on food but on clothes also, my mother owned a dress shop. Parachute silk was prized as a fine material. The name Utility was used a lot which included furniture, well made but plain, as wood, steel etc. were in short supply as most things, till Britain recovered from the toll of the war.

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