大象传媒

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

I was born in late 1940, my first memory is being carried in my mum鈥檚 Joan鈥檚 arms down stairs into a brick communal shelter in the street, it was dark, but the sky was lit be search lights. As a VI (Doodle bug) went over, luckily it kept going.

We lived in Whetstone North London along side the LNER railway line from Kings X to Scotland, lots of trains went with tanks and things on all very exciting for a little lad. As the war went on I remember getting on a train at new south gate station and going on a very exciting trip into the country. We arrived at our destination which was then a little village called Meldreth, Cambridgeshire. Just north of Royston, when we got off the train, we walked across the field towards the church, past the church and down a narrow lane to a orchard at very bottom.

In the orchard were chickens, geese rabbit, right at the bottom was a beautiful little stream, the water was crystal clear but the most exciting thing was in the corner 鈥� it was a lovely wooden gypsy type caravan, this is where we lived throughout that summer, and I loved every minute of that time we went back there on several occasions through the war years. The orchard was owned by people I only knew as Jack and Yote, the relations of Bet and Reg who lived below me and mum in London.

One day in 1945 I was playing with some toy cars on the landing at the top of the stairs mum was in the scullery getting tea ready, when the door at the bottom of the stairs opened and a man started to come up, I had no idea who he was but I shouted 鈥渕um there鈥檚 a man coming in鈥� the next thing mum was crying her eyes out 鈥� Dad was home from North Africa all tanned and handsome, with his rucksack, Rifle and beret 鈥� always remembered his beret, he had been in Egypt, Palestine and all round that area.

Sadly dad died in 1994, but mum is still alive at nearly 90 years of age.

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