大象传媒

'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Rick Allden of the CSV 大象传媒 Coventry and Warwickshire Action Desk on behalf of M. R. Spurgeon and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions'.

This was 鈥渙ld hat鈥� to my brother and me, after our experience of the London blitz, and we thought it very funny when the wail of the siren for the first time sent Mrs. Bacon into a panic, running through the house and hammering on everybody鈥檚 door, shouting, 鈥淭he Germans are coming, the Germans are coming.鈥� Children can be insensitive to adult fears sometimes.

There are only three others whom I remember from that time. The first was a Jewish boy with whom I played and went to school. He lived with his father and was without a mother. I do not know if she was dead or whether they were refugees, but I was aware that my mother was sorry for him and used to give him food and clothes.

The second was not a person but a parrot with personality. On my visits to the Parrot-house beyond the floral clock in the Park I never tired of listening to him as he bounced up and down on his perch singing verses of the song 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long way to Tipperary鈥�.

The third and last was Barbara Blenkinsop who lived next door. She was my age and I used to play with her. Recollection is hazy, but I do remember that she had blue eyes and golden hair, and that she let me kiss her one sunny morning when she was sitting on top of the mangle outside the back door. Happy Southport!

After Southport we spent some months in Faringdon near Swindon. More new faces! The landlady, a Mrs. Townsend, was less stout than Mrs. Bacon, but never-the-less, well corseted. She was a strict and serious lady but I was aware that my parents thought one of the lodgers was her 鈥渕an friend鈥�. He was a typical commercial traveller and kept his hair dark by brushing it with his black shoe brush.

The other lodger was Mrs. Taylor, a shrivelled lady from East Ham, bombed out by the blitz. She seemed to have a permanent cold and was forever holding her handkerchief in front of the fire to dry it. This did not endear her to my mother and I thought she was a bit 鈥渕usty鈥�. As my mother was pregnant Mrs. Taylor began to knit a jacket for the baby. This task continued for many months and after we had returned home and the baby was born, my mother received it by post. It was white to begin with but after so much handling by Mrs. Taylor鈥檚 grubby hands, the jacket had a grey colour, which defied washing.

The only other person I remember in Faringdon was the headmaster of the
school I attended. Although I never fell foul of him, I shared the common dread of him. He was old (to me), short, and his remaining hair was light brown. He had a violent temper and struck terror in our hearts by his shouting. He often used the cane and I remember on one occasion he caned a girl in front of the class after pulling down her knickers. Although I was only seven, I thought this was very wrong but never said anything about it in case I got the same. I was not sorry to leave Faringdon.

This story was donated to the People鈥檚 War website by M. R. Spurgeon, of the Leam Writers. If you would like to find out more about Leam Writers call 0845 900 5 300.

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