大象传媒

I was born in 1939, the beginning of the war, and my memories as a small child were influenced by the fact that the country was at war, even though I didn鈥檛 understand what that meant.

An early memory was of the barrage balloons which I saw from my pram. They looked like silver stars in the sky. I had no idea why they were there. Later, I remember the sirens when the air raids began. At home, we had a metal table with wire down the sides that was called a 鈥淢orrison shelter鈥�. I can remember that one side was open, and we children would all crowd in under the table when the sirens went. I didn鈥檛 like it much because it wasn鈥檛 very comfortable. On one occasion, I had been playing with the twin dolls that I had when the air raid sirens sounded. They were wonderful with porcelain heads. I only had time to take one into the shelter with me. The other was left on the wall outside the house. After the all clear sounded, I found the other doll had fallen off the wall from the vibrations of the bombs.

I also remember that my mother was always concerned about whether there would be enough food. I remember that we could only have one egg a week. For a short time, we went to Batley in the North. I started school there, and for the first time I tasted plums and crab. They were strange to me, and I can remember that the crab made me sick, because I was not used to such food at all.

We didn鈥檛 stay in Batley very long. We came back to Croydon, where there were often air raids. I can remember one incident when my grandfather鈥檚 business was in danger of catching fire from all the fires around. I remember being carried through Croydon by a fireman away from the fires. I have always had great admiration for firemen ever since. I even had my tonsils out at the Mayfair Hospital during an air raid. The hospital was not a very nice place. The trolleys were like bunk beds so that four children at a time could be moved around the corridors, with two head to toe on the top and two head to toe on the bottom. All the toys that we had in the hospital were burned. I don鈥檛 remember it as a pleasant experience.

However, my uncle, who drove an ambulance, took me from the hospital and drove me to Box Hill after the operation. We lived in a caravan - six of us - to escape the air raids in Croydon. I can remember hearing the doodlebugs coming over Box Hill on their way to targets in London. They would drone as they came over. And when the sound stopped, you knew that they had reached the target. Sometimes my father would throw me out of the caravan when we heard them come over to make sure that if they came down, we would not be hurt by the debris that might be caused. There were Canadian soldiers stationed at Box Hill. I was told later that they would shoot at the doodlebugs, but I don鈥檛 know whether it did much good.

I remember this time as being confusing and frightening. There were the worries about food and safety, the air raids, the danger. Although I didn鈥檛 understand it all, the worries of the adults certainly influenced my memories of the time.

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