大象传媒

Raising money for Spitfire

My name is Jennifer Larbey nee Wilson I was born in London on the 19th Dec 1934. My parents were Harry and Gladys Wilson and I had a brother Michael who was 5 years older than me. We all lived in a bungalow bought new by my father in 1927 for 拢600 at Burnham in Buckinghamshire

We had a little Austin Seven car which was laid up on bricks in the garage throughout the war. My dad used a bicycle to get to and from work and to go away some nights when he had to do Fire Watching around the trading estate in Slough where he worked. There were several incendiary bombs dropped on the trading estate. One factory that was hit was the Huntley & Palmer biscuits. I remember my dad brought home a box of biscuits rescued from the fire and put on the side of the road for people to help themselves. We were unable to eat them they were so burnt tasting.

We kept ducks in our back garden we were able to get linseed scrapings This was the left over after the oil was taken from the linseed, these scrapings we mixed with all kitchen waste and fed to the ducks. We were able to keep our one egg per person per week ration by keeping ducks where as if we had kept chicken we would have lost them. Michael and I also had a rabbit each these had litters which helped out with the meat ration. The skins were dried, then treated and made into gloves. To add to the ration my dad had an allotment this provided vegetable most of the year round. I also remember my mother queuing at the butcher for Whale meat and also Snook, which I think was a type of fish and from what I can remember was not at all very nice, in fact I think, was awful.

My dad dug an air-raid shelter in our back garden he dug this huge hole and covered it with soil and had steps going into it and a heavy lid to shut us in. There was a bunk bed for Michael and I, my father had to make do with a chair. My mum felt safer sitting on the floor in the hall of the bungalow until the all clear.

By the time I was three I was attending a dancing school, it was held in Taplow village hall and was run by a Miss Bice Bellairs. I didn鈥檛 start school until I was nearly six then it was a small propriety school I think it was called 鈥淗eathlands鈥� it was run by a Miss Berry and Miss Davis. I remember a Mr Bidgood took us for maths.

While I was at the Bice Bellair school we would put on shows raising money for numerous charities. Such as The China Fund [What ever that was?] Slough Comfort Fund. South Buck鈥檚 Hospitals. And Sir Johns Ambulance. One show we put on was in the Aspro factory in Slough trading estate to raise money to buy a Spitfire. We also did a show at 鈥淩eostat鈥� my dads works to entertain the workers.

I remember going to London once or twice to a dancing studio in Kensington it was run by Miss Euphan Maclaren, I believe she was a well known dancing teacher at that time. I think it was right in the middle of all the bombing. This might have been my mother鈥檚 idea pushing me forward imagining I was a better dancer than I really was. Another visit to London was to the Kensington Palace Hotel where we performed in front of children, I dance to the poplar song at the time. 鈥淩un rabbit run鈥� I had to stand in the costume while my mother stitched cotton wool all over it. My dad helped with the headgear made from a bathing cap with large ears which would fold down when I had to do 鈥淗ead over heels鈥�

Later in the war when the Doodle bugs were about I remember we put on a show in Windsor it was in a big field and there was a marquee which we used as a changing room. During the afternoon the air raid sirens went and a doodle bug was heard, then the engine cut out and we all held our breath. It dropped some miles away in Marlow.

We had some farming friends in South Devon and were able to spend some summer holidays with them. one summer there was an epidemic of polio so my mother took Michael and I away. The food down there seemed plentiful no shortage of dairy product we had clotted cream for every meat at least that how it appeared. Our friends were one of the families who had to move and leave their farm as the area was taken over by the Americans to practice for D Day landings, with some dreadful results we learned later.

After the war we moved to Camberley and I went to Elmhurst Ballet school. My fathers works had moved part of the factory to a big house in Frimly and employed disabled people from the war on the assembly line.

As a thank you to all the forces of all the nations who helped us win the war our school put on a show called 鈥淔or Services Rendered鈥�. We performed it in Southwark Cathedral with an audience of American and Canadian service men. As I was depicting a cripple child and I had to fall while making my way up the aisle. I was picked up by an American who thought I had fallen by accident. We also did this show at the Royal Albert Hall in front of Princess Elizabeth. This was called 鈥淟ess We Forget鈥� and was performed on Empire Day. May the 24th and there were many groups taking part.

War meant very little to me. I hadn鈥檛 known anyone who had been killed, in fact I didn鈥檛 know anyone really in the forces. We rarely went to the cinema so we didn鈥檛 see newsreel. My life was very busy and I enjoyed taking part in all the shows.
I continued my schooling at Elmhurst and left in 1951

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