大象传媒

In the summer of 1940 I was an 18 year old, working as a clerk for the London County Council, in Bethnal Green, East London, and the only prospect I could see, was waiting for my age group to be called up for Military service. Our office was on stand-by, for manning Rest Centre's, at a nearby school, which was equipped to receive bombed-out refugees, if air-raids on London started. Until the "Blitz" in the Autumn, that meant sleeping in camp beds in the office on a rota basis, playing card's and deciding who was to be cook. Eventually on 20th October I was called to Rest Centre duty, as bombed-out East-Enders started arriving. For two months I worked 24 hours on and 24 hours off, at Globe road school in Stepney (empty as all the pupil's had been evacuated to the country), tending to the need's of bombed-out families who trudged to the school, with what they could salvage from their destroyed homes. The school and many others, had been stocked many months before with tea in chests, sugar in sacks, tinned food, blankets, mattresses etc. I remember the cheerfulness of the cockneys, who quickly settled in and were soon even singing. Every morning we phoned J - Lyons caterers with the numbers of people, and at lunch-time the desired number of hot meals arrived in an insulated van. The organisation and forethought was impressive and helped to alleviate the suffering of the refugees.

I mostly travelled the eight miles to and from my home by bicycle and with the disruption of public transport, it was more reliable, though the rubble and broken glass everywhere meant frequent punctures. They were exciting times for young people, and I do not remember any down-heartedness or defeatism.

In December of that year, I enlisted in the Home Guard, left the Rest Centre Service to others and resumed work in the office, which enabled me to perform my home guard duties in the evening and week-ends.

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