大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War Site by Three Counties Action, on behalf of Rita Fensome, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

I was about 2 years old in my home on the lower end of Strathmore Ave Luton Beds, when the Landmine dropped on Park Street. It landed on the row of shops and destroyed the local butchers. I can remember my father carrying me from our house to my grand mother鈥檚 house which was the paper shop in Langley Street.

During the air raids we would take shelter in the cellars of J.W. Green's brewery in Park Street West. My brother and I contracted measles and were not allowed into the shelter as we might infect others. After this we sheltered under the stairs.

I do not remember going back to the house on Strathmore Avenue. My parents told me that I screamed, I did not want to go into that old bombed house although it had been repaired. We then moved to wood Street which had recieved more bomb damage, unknown to me at the time.

My Father worked at the Vauxhall and was on the Home Guard bomb disposal unit. One morning he returned from night duty to find us sitting under the stairs. He asked us what we were doing there, we had slept through the siren and got up to shelter on the all clear siren.

During the war we carried cardboard boxes containing our gas masks, we would blow into the nose piece and make funny noises.

At the end of the war we had a party at the fire station to celebrate the victory. Everybody contributed towards the party in spite of food rationing.

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