大象传媒

This contribution was sent to the Cranleigh History Centre and transcribed by Michael Miller)
I was 4 years old when war was declared - no more going out on my own to visit friends! Soldiers arrived in the village and were camped out in fields in long huts surrounded by barbed wire and armoured vehicles paked under trees. Identity numbers were issued (my father's job)and I wore mine on a bracelet.
My mother (Mrs Jacques) as Head Mistress and local Guide Leader was responsible for feeding the village people in the event of a gas or electricity failure. A brick fireplace was built behind the Village Hall and our Brownie meetings were held there just in case.
We got used to the sirens and waited with relief until the "All Clear". Gas masks were issued but I was too old for Mickey Mouse one and we wore them every day in school when we said poetry.
Every garden, field and common was used to grow vegetables and we helped to gather Rose Hips for the WI. We queued at every shopand kept our Ration Books in special cases. Collins Pork Butchers was a very windy place but the wait was worth it as it meant we had sausages, mash and gravy for lunch. At weekends we made our own entertainment and soldiers would join us for tea and later play tennis and other games. I ahve photos to remind me of the Canadian Soldiers and our dog liked visiting the cookhouse where he was given bones.
On warm summer evenings we could here the drone of the engines warming up at Dunsfold Aerodrome. They left in formation in 15's and 20's and returned in ones and two's after their missions over Europe.
we were constantly reminded of the bombing by taped up widows in the houses, shops and schools. Oil bombs left black marks and large craters in gardens became water features until husbands and sons returned to fill them in again.
We were allowed to walk through the POW camp in the woods at Wionterfold and the inmates liked to practice their english. some worked in the fields and gardens and many married and stayed on after the war.
Evacuees arrived at Cranleigh Station which was always a busy placeand a target for german planes. Several girls were injured in an attack on a train near Bramley. We used to dance to entertain the troops who were convalescing in the large houses in Wonersh, Merrow and Leith Hill. I had danced in the Doctor's gardenthe afternoon the V1 landed on the gasometer. On my way home I saw it comming towards me - I dived into the garden and slammed the the back door just as the boom went off!
Our case was packed with spare clothes for an emergency as people would share their homes with others whose houses had been bombed or declared unsafe. I shared my bedroom with Valrie, an evacuee, and was very jealous when she was allowed to stay in bed on Friday whilst her clothes were washed until mother could get some more. Toys she had to damage to get more but I still have mine 60 years later.
Visits to London at half term were occasions to see shows or the National gallery. The trains went very slowly past Vauxhall where the terrace houses were still smouldering from the bombing the night before. Often we could see the sky over London burning red and angry from the fires after the bombing.
I saw the dog-fights over Holmbury Hill and later we we heard the 9 o'clock news and London Calling with Mr Churchill's voice.
Some of the soldiers married local girls and some Germans are buried in our churchyards. A regular site was village boys returning to Cranleigh Station after many years in POW camps. My uncle was in the RAF in India and Burma and I looked forward to his letters which often had words blanked out by the censors.
At last VE day came on the 8th May with much celebration, bonfires and the lights shining once again from the windows.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.