大象传媒

This story was recorded at the IWM and reproduced here with Irene's permission.

Irene remembers London during the war as a very dark place, because no lights were allowed to show from the houses at night. If any light was showing, police and ARP wardens would fine the household. All windows had to by law have blackout curtains in place, which were made of a very heavy black material. This was supplied to each household, but the curtains were not ready-made - they had to be made at home.

All windows also had to have parcel tape put on them so in case of a bomb they would not shatter inwards and cause serious injuries. Irene remembers how when it was dark how she would run outside to check if any light was visible, and how it became a bit of a game to her! Irene soon became accustomed to the darkness inside, and the only time she remembers being scared was during fog.

Irene's grandmother decorated the bottom of the curtains with any colourful material they could find to cheer them up a bit, simply because they were so dull to look at all evening. They had to make the curtains longer than the windows and only decorate the bottom as it was illegal to sew on any part that would cover the windows themselves. This was because even a needle hole of light could be seen.

Any left over blackout material was made into clothing. Irene herself had a skirt, which her grandmother made and decorated with coloured wool. She even cut out the shape of a dog, whose lead curled round the skirt, all the way to the waist! This was her favourite skirt throughout the war.

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