大象传媒

I began work in 1937 (aged 14) at Plesseys, an electronics company based in Ilford, Essex. My aunt Lil (my mother鈥檚 sister) got me the job as she already worked there as a charge hand, but no-one asked me what I wanted to do - it was just accepted that you did as you were told.

The war began in September 1939 although it had long been expected. On that day, a Sunday, my friend and I had been swimming early in the morning and came home to discover the news. Later that day we walked round to London Road school in Romford to be fitted for our gas masks and on our way there the very first air raid siren sounded although we later discovered there was no danger. Suddenly a man on a bike appeared with a placard hanging round his neck saying 鈥淎ir Raid鈥�! On our way home after being fitted for our gas masks the all clear siren sounded and suddenly there was the same man on his bike with a placard around his neck saying 鈥淎ll Clear鈥�.

On the subject of gas masks, they fitted tight against your face and when you breathed out they vibrated against your skin making a very rude noise. As kids we thought this was hilarious. Later on during the war we became fashion conscious and decorated the boxes the masks were carried in. Masks had to be carried at all times and failing to do so was an offence.

The Blitz started in 1940 but Romford was safe compared to the East End. My Dad had said he had no intention of having an Anderson shelter in the garden. However, once the war had begun he changed his mind and once ours was in my Dad grew vegetables up the side of the shelter, such as marrows. All the neighbours helped one another to dig the pits for the shelters.

Our dog, Prince, always gave us plenty of warning about air raids as his hearing was very acute and he could hear the sirens in far off places before Romford sirens got going. He would run down to the shelter ahead of us. In the shelter my Mum and Dad slept on bunks that were raised off the ground and my sister Joan, brother Ron and I slept side by side beneath them. One morning we awoke to find we were virtually floating on water and all our bedding was soaked so for a few nights we had to sleep in other people鈥檚 shelters until ours had dried out. I remember waking up one night with something (probably a beetle or spider) crawling on my face. How I hated having to sleep in the shelter! My Dad occasionally had to go on fire watch at night and when that happened none of us went down to the shelter but slept in our beds. It was always my Dad that got us down the shelter.

My only accident of the war was one night when there was a terrific raid on. My Dad made us run down from the house to the shelter one at a time. I ran down first but then decided I wanted to go to the toilet so I turned around and headed back up the path. It was dark so I didn鈥檛 see my sister Joan heading down the path towards me. We collided and bumped heads. Unfortunately for me, my glasses dug into my face and I suffered a terrible black eye and swelling. I still went to work the next day but I was sent home because my eye was swelling up more and more.

Living where we did close to the railway line, there were several near misses with bombs. A rocket (at the latter part of the war) landed on the railway line at the end of our road and my grandmother鈥檚 house, round the corner to us, was badly damaged. The front door was found in the kitchen! It was terrible for my grandmother because she was very house-proud and the shock of it brought on a stroke, which finally killed her. She died in August 1945 shortly after Japan鈥檚 capitulation.

The Doodlebugs (V-1鈥檚) started about 1943. One night one came right over Jutsums Lane, Romford, where we lived. We were walking back from the pub and we could see them going along the River Thames. Everyone said they were fuelled by 鈥楢rse-alight鈥� because they glowed at the back. One crashed at the top of the road, which sent my brother and his friend up there to inspect the damage.

The Rockets (V-2鈥檚) began in 1944. You couldn鈥檛 hear their approach as they just fell from the sky with no warning. After that we didn鈥檛 bother going down the shelter as you never knew when one was coming. My brother Ron was evacuated, together with his friend Colin, to a village near Southwold in Suffolk in August 1944 but they were home by Christmas. They were treated well but missed home and wrote that if they didn鈥檛 receive the money for the train fare they鈥檇 start walking!

A school in Chadwell Heath was bombed and a land mine destroyed a whole street in Collier Row. I remember reading about a young girl who鈥檇 been sent out to get fish and chips and while she was out her whole family were killed in the raid.

Despite the gloomy things, we still managed to enjoy ourselves. Christmas was always good fun and all the family 鈥� including aunts, uncles and cousins 鈥� came round to our house. We had a piano and my aunt (who鈥檚 still alive today, aged 101!) would play for us and we鈥檇 sing songs. My Dad worked for South-East Essex Waterworks and they always provided us with a Christmas turkey and pudding. My Dad grew all his own vegetables so we didn鈥檛 go hungry. One Christmas there was a call for families to entertain American servicemen on Christmas Day. We applied for a couple but there weren鈥檛 enough to go around so we were disappointed.

My great love was the cinema and I usually managed to go two or three times a week. I never went down to a shelter if the air raid sirens went but took my chances in the cinema. We used to go up to London occasionally to the cinema and I remember seeing Gone With The Wind in Leicester Square.

There were Home Guard dances in St. Chad鈥檚 hall in Chadwell, dancing to Jack Madison and his band, and occasionally we went to the Wykeham hall in Romford Market. We also used to go to the Ilford Hippodrome and saw stars such as Vera Lynn, Old Mother Riley, and Hutch. One Friday evening we had intended to go to the Hippodrome but at the last minute changed our minds and that night it was bombed. I remember Renee Huston and Donald Stewart were going to be there but fortunately they weren鈥檛 hurt.

Clothing was difficult to get during the war as you had to have coupons but sometimes we were able to buy on the black market although you had to pay more.

I started to write to Norman in May 1944. He was stationed in the Middle East and was the brother of my friend鈥檚 boyfriend, Dick. We wrote for 18 months and finally met in November 1945 when he was granted 28 days leave, although he had to go back to the Sudan afterwards. He was demobbed on 13th June 1946 and we got married on 24th August 1946. Very little time to get to know one another but, all being well, we鈥檒l be celebrating our Diamond Wedding next year!

We knew something was up in June 1944 when we saw lorry loads of soldiers being carried along London Road. On 6th June I was working when my aunt came up behind me and whispered in my ear 鈥淭hey鈥檙e off鈥�. She must have heard on the radio or been told.

The day war ended I was in work and the announcement was made over the tannoy. However, I can鈥檛 for the life of me remember what we did that night. How sad!

Dictated on 11.5.2005

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