大象传媒

A Rude Awaking

I awoke with a start as a gust of wind came rushing across my bedroom as the curtains burst open. What was going on? It was still dark. I started to throw the bedclothes off and realised that bits of plaster were falling onto the floor as made my way over to the door to put on the light, but there was no light, the light bulb was on my bed. As I opened the door I heard my Mum call up the stairs.
鈥� Are you OK luv?鈥�
鈥� Yes, what鈥檚 happening?鈥�
鈥� 鈥� Think a Rocket has come down on the School Opposite. Anyway the Front door has been blown off and all the Windows out so don鈥檛 come down yet , as there鈥檚 glass everywhere鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 coming down now I鈥檒l be OK鈥�
I certainly wasn鈥檛 going to stay on the top floor of the house in my bedroom alone especially when our tenants a young small woman called Jean with her elderly Aunt May were away for a few days. I was very friendly with them and t would have felt better if they had been with me. I started to go down the five flights of stairs to the basement barefooted and arrived without a splinter.
The Greeting I got from my Mum was
鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you put your shoes on?鈥�
鈥� I couldn鈥檛 find them in the Dark could I 鈥�
鈥淲ell I鈥檒l get them for you and some clothes as we will have to start clearing up this mess鈥�
My grandmother who鈥檚 bedroom was on the next floor down and at the front of the house had awoke to find both windows blown out and a big hole in the wall beside her bed still she was OK and was already down in the Kitchen as was my Brother who鈥檚 Bedroom was on the same floor as Gran鈥檚 but at the back of the house and apart from the window having been blown out, there wasn鈥檛 too much damage there.
The first thing they had done was to light some candles and put the kettle on for a cup of tea and we were wondering how Dad was going to react as he came back home from his Home Guard Duty at the Docks on his Bike at 6.a.m. to find all the damage as he entered the Street. I suppose we were lucky living in a Victorian Terraced House as they had been built so well that they and seemed to be able to stand up to all that the Jerry鈥檚 could throw at us and even though the School had been completely demolished at least all the houses in the Street remained standing and could be repaired.
Anyway as we sat around the table drinking our cups of tea. My Gran burst out laughing.
鈥� What you laughing about鈥� Mum said.
鈥淵ou should see your face it鈥檚 as black as the Ace of Spades鈥�
鈥� Well you should see yours and the Kids too鈥�
Then we all started to laugh as so much soot had come down the Chimney into the Black Iron Kitchen Range that we were all covered with it and looked like Chimney Sweeps. Still the job in hand was to start sweeping up the mess and get things in some order as dawn broke. It had been an early start to the day as it was only 3.a.m, when the Rocket fell.
When Dad arrived home at 6.a.m. he was just thankful to find us all OK as while he was on his way home he had heard that a Rocket had fallen on the School so was expecting the worst. As soon as the Council started work they would come round to board up the Windows and some friends where my Dad worked said they would
come around to fix the doors.
Anyway time was marching on and we were told to get ready for school by Mum while she got our breakfast ready as she didn鈥檛 want us to arrive late.
After our Breakfast of Porridge and Bread and Jam we made our way off to School. My Brother going off in one direction to Highbury Grove Boys Grammar and myself off in the opposite direction to Dalston County Grammar School for Girls. On my way I met up with my friend Yvonne Smith in Barretts Road and her Greeting was the usual.
鈥� Did anything drop near you last night鈥�
鈥� Yes a Rocket came down on Newington Green School at 3.a.m. my Bedroom Ceiling came down on me all our doors have been blown off and Windows out, so have been busy clearing up鈥�
鈥� Have Yur!鈥� was her reply as we made our way on to school and that was the end of the conversation.
I felt very tired as the School day progressed and the first class after lunch was Maths with Miss Macintosh who gave us an Algebra Test. I was quite good at Maths so never found the Tests too difficult but that day as she wrote the questions up on the board for us I was finding it difficult to read the questions but did my best with what I thought the questions were and managed to finish it. At the next Maths lesson when we got our results she asked me about the test as I had only got half marks which was unusual for me as I had copied some of the questions down wrong. I explained I had been a bit tired that day as I had been up since 3.a.m. She said she understood but I should have said something on the day. Still didn鈥檛 want to bother her, after all these things were happening to so many of us during the War. That was life.
Still the whole Neighbourhood was thankful that there was very little lost of Life through the Rocket as the only people killed was the Caretaker of the School and his wife. If it had come down at 3.p.m. any weekday over 200 children would have died plus their teachers. And if it had happened just the night before it would have killed at least 100 people as the school was used as a Rest Centre for people who had been bombed out and awaiting to be Re-housed, fortunately they had all been moved out the Evening before so many lives had been spared.

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