大象传媒

I attended the St Barnabas Infant school at the outbreak of the second world war at the age of4, and can remeber certain incidents.

My school headmistress was Miss Parker and form teacher Miss Pearce. When the war was in its first stages, we were all told to congregate at the main gate and walk aroind the perimeter of the school, close to bulidings as bombing raides were expected (I understand that bombing raides were expected at the factory in the vacinity which was Wadkins who made ammunition)

I was 6 years old in th eearly 40s when my father informed me that Italy ha djoined in the war with Germany. Consequently they became our enemies. I remember vividly, walking with my father and his friends to th elocal ice cream manufacture, Rossas who were Italian. They were subjected by us verbal abuse and their family were very frightend. Mr Ralph Rosa came to the upstairs window and informed us, his son was in the army fighting for England.

The sirens souned most nights and my mo9ther used to take me and my sister to the local shoe factoy Greenlees shoe factory down the road, where we were escorted to the cellors untill the all clear.

When the Americans joined the war, they were billeted atScraptoft and Evington Shady Lane (Leicester area). They used to call at the local house at the corner of my street and I used to mind there bikes sometimes for the pricely sum of half a crown(2/6d) considered a fortune in those days. Chips were also a great favourite withthe American soldiers and I would queue for them earning candy in returning - a real treat as no sweets were aviable then.

Towards the end of the war when the americans had left, they were replaced by German prisoners who roamed the streets on Christmas day( considered no danger to anybody). My uncle (a first world war vetrin) would invite two of these prisons of war for christmas dinner. One of them was a dentists back in Germany told me too many sweets were bad for your teeth. I vividly remember, when playing in the street seeing a telegram boy on his bike comming from my uncle's entry. i later found out he delivered a telegram saying his only son Tommy (my cousin) had been killed in Italy.

When the the war ended with Germay, I was about 9 years old, I remember the street party and having a day off from school. this also occurred when the war eneded with Japan. This Party went on untill the early hours of the morning. I was allowed stay awake untill the very early hours of the morning.

The council built us an anderson air raid shelter which my father was allowed to purchase for a very small fee, which my sister who born during the war used it as her play den.

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