大象传媒

During the war we lived in Highcliff Road, which is the last turning on the left off Cheriton Road (the road leading to Privett Park), and my Grandfather lived in a small cottage in Privett Road (opposite where there is now the garage. The garage and the other buildings were not there then, it was a big field which went across to Bury Hall Lane, and usually had cows in. Jellico Avenue was there but hadn't been built very long.

As soon as the war started, all of the cinemas were closed. There were three in Gosport, The Ritz, the Forum where Waitrose now is (and this was a very nice cinema) and the Criterion, now the Bingo hall, in Forton Road. This one was the oldest and smallest of the three and we used to call it "The Flea Pit".
In those days we didn't have such things as discos but there were weekly dances held in some of the Church halls that were very popular for us teenagers. These also stopped as soon as the war started, so there was nowhere for us to go, and of course there was no television, only the radio to listen to (we called it the "Wireless" in those days). The cinemas and dances did start again after several months and a notice would come up on the screen saying that the Air Raid Sirens had just sounded and you were advised to go to the nearest shelter. Nobody took much notice unless it started to get really bad and you started to hear, and feel the vibration of bombs dropping!! And of course, just to make it even worse there was the "Blackout". All windows had to be covered so that absolutely no light could be seen, all the street lighting was off and what few cars and buses there were all had shielded dim headlights. On nights when there was no moon to give a little bit of light it was so black that you actually bumped into people as you walked along the street! There were always a lot of soldiers and sailors about, of all different nationalities. Soldiers were stationed at Fort Brockhurst, they were the Canadian North Nova Scotia Regiment. There were also soldiers in St George's Barracks, and there was an Anti Aircraft Battery out at Stokes Bay, and another at Holbrook. The RAF were at the airfield at Fort Grange (now HMS Sultan) and of course the Navy were at Dolphin, Haslar Hospital, St Vincent, where the school now is, and all around the area.

After the first blitz on Portsmouth and Gosport on the night of 10 January 1941
there was no electricity , water or gas, and it was several days before it was restored. My cousin, John and I walked down to the town and there were damaged and destroyed buildings everywhere and glass all over the roads and pavements. Some buildings were still on fire and all the firemen looked very black and were obviously very tired. When we got to the Ritz, we found it had been destroyed as well as the Town Hall. There were hosepipes from the fire engines everywhere. The WVS (the Woman鈥檚 Voluntary Service) had set up places where the firemen and rescue workers could get a cup of tea. There were a lot of small streets around Trinity Church where the flats are now, and the whole of this area was very badly damaged. The house where we lived in Church Path when I was a small boy, together with all those on the same side were just shells of the original houses and no longer able to be lived in. Where the bus station is now there was a small street and a friend of my Mother was among those trapped under the rubble. They got her out but she had to have her leg amputated.

There was however a lighter side to the war for us youngsters. At the far side of Privett Park, was, and I believe still is, the Gosport Football Club Ground. After the fall of France, the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) was formed. This later became The Home Guard. The Grandstand of the football ground was used as their Headquarters. At the back of Privett Park ran a small footpath that came out into Privett Road. One nice September evening I was riding along this path with a friend when we saw a tree loaded with plums hanging over the wall of the house on the side of the path. We stopped and climbed up onto the saddles of our bikes and were busy filling our pockets with plums when there was a bang like a rifle shot. Our first thoughts were that the LDV were firing at us. We dropped down onto our bikes and pedalled away furiously, and I could tell that one of the tyres on my bike was flat, and I was quite convinced that we had been shot at and the tyre had been hit by a bullet. Despite this we didn鈥檛 stop until we got into Privett Road, thinking "It's a bit much to fire at us just because we were stealing plums". My bike was very much a second hand bike, and when we looked at the tyre we realised that the tyre hadn't been hit by a bullet, but the tyre being so old had formed a bulge which had chosen that moment to burst. We enjoyed the plums anyway!
Later on I started work in Portsmouth Dockyard as an Apprentice on the princely wage of 拢1 a week, less 4d for insurance.
Like most lads at that time I started smoking, a silly thing to do as I now realise, but could only afford to buy a packet of 10 Woodbines which had to last me the week. One dark, wet Friday night I was walking along Ann's Hill Road and had just taken the cigarettes out of my pocket to have one when I bumped into a crowd of soldiers who to say the least of it, were a bit merry and away went my packet of woodbines into a puddle. I was so annoyed that I said "That was my packet of fags, and I can't afford to buy any more until I get paid again next week". "Never mind mate" said one of the soldiers in a strong Canadian accent, "Have these on me" and he pushed a packet of 20 Sweet Caporals (a well known brand of Canadian cigarettes) into my hand. Luckily they were in a good mood or the story could have been very different
After the fall of France and the evacuation of our troops from Dunkirk, Britain was very much standing alone but in 1944 we started to see the buid up of the troops for D-Day.
Tanks and vehicules of all type started pouring through Gosport and assembling at Stokes Bay. Often they stopped alongside the road where they were, presumably waiting for space at Stokes Bay. As soon as they stopped, the people came out from their houses with cups of tea for them. They all looked tired and when the ration waggon came along some of the local youngsters queued up for them and got them their food. Many slogans were chalked on the guns, such as "This one's for Hitler!"
These early ones must have been some of the first to land on the beaches in Normandy, and I often wonder how many of them came back.
In late April 1945, 9 months after D Day, it began to look as if the war was
nearly over and that Germany would soon be defeated. Everyone eagerly
followed the news in the papers and on the wireless and the newsreels at the
cinemas showed how the British and the Ameicans were advancing towards Berlin
from one side and the Russians from the other.
Finally Germany surrendered on the 8 May and a national day of holiday was
declared. Everyone was very excited and street parties were arranged
everywhere. Tables and chairs were brought out from everyones houses,
together with cups, saucers, knives, forks etc. Even a piano was brought out! There weren't many cars in those days so it was possible to have a party
in the street. All the people managed to find some food which they had been
saving up in preparation for the great day. This had been quite difficult to
do as everything was strictly rationed. We even found some flags which were
quickly strung across the street. The tables were arranged down the middle
of the road and the party began. All the children sat at the tables and
everyone had a great time. At the end of Highcliff Road the road opened out
into a square for vehicules to turn round. A big bonfire was built in the middle of
the square and as it got to the evening everyone was dancing around it to
the music from the piano. Suddenly there was a very big explosion in the
fire which frightened everybody and lifted the fire off the ground about
half a metre! It was a long time after that we found out that it was
caused by an empty Dried Milk tin which somebody had half filled with water, sealed on the lid, and threw into the fire! When the water boiled it turned into steam and the tin exploded! Luckily no one was
hurt and a good time was had by all.

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