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This story has been written onto the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Peoples War site by CSV Storygatherer Ian Hollins on behalf of Joan Carver. The story has been added to the site with her permission. And Joan Carver fully understands the terms and conditions of the site.
I was born on the 26th April 1935 at 118 Osborne Road, St Denys, Southampton. Sadly it is no longer there as it was demolished along with many other buildings to make way for Portswood bypass. Most people were born at home in those days with a midwife in attendance. The confinement would last 2 weeks and a lady would be employed to do the washing ironing and housework. The midwife would call in each day to make sure that mother and baby were doing well.
My earliest memory goes back to when I was about 3 years old. At that time we were living in a bungalow in North Baddesley called ‘Clump View’ which in those days was in the country. I can remember that the garden in Baddesley was very long and I loved playing in the long grass. We stayed there for only 3 months. My Dad worked in the docks as a checker. Not many people had cars in those days so he had to cycle the 6 miles to work and back each day. The bicycles in those days never had all the gears that they have today so it was hard work. As it was winter he found that it was all too much for him. We then moved to 41 Oniberry Road, Midenbury, Southampton. We were very happy there and I expect mum thought that at last they were settled. It was a dear little bungalow and I think that if war had not come along we would have stayed there for some time
War was declared at 11am on Sunday 3rd of September 1939. It changed the lives of everyone in this country, nothing would ever be the same again, I remember helping to dig the shelter. We were soon issued with gas masks which we had to carry with us at all times. At first things were quiet but Dad and Mum said that whatever happened to us we would stay together. In 1940 I started school, I hated having to go on the school bus from the castle in Midenbury Down to Bitterne Park Infants School in Manor Farm Road. Soon my Dad was transferred to Topsham station in Devon as a railway clerk/porter shortly after I started school. This left Mum and I alone in the bungalow until Dad could find us somewhere to live. It was 3 months before I saw him again. Of course we looked forward to his letters as we had no phones in those days.
Soon things that we used everyday like food and luxury items began to disappear from the shops. We were issued with ration books and coupons for clothing and household goods. For our meat and groceries we were advised to use the same shop all of the time because if you were a regular customer you were treated better than a casual one. If things were in short supply the regulars had first choice when a new delivery arrived. On one occasion my Mum and I were going to see my ‘big’ Nan and Granddad who lived at 7 Cobden Gardens in Bitterne and as we were walking down Norris Hill the siren sounded and almost immediately we could hear the ack-ack guns. We dived into the nearest house and into their air raid shelter which happened to be in the front garden. That’s what people did in those days you took cover wherever you could find shelter. The people that lived there were out at the time. It was a lovely shelter with carpet on the floor and comfortable seating that could be made into a bed. We were there for about an hour and never did know who lived there.
One Saturday night we had a terrible raid and when it was over Mum and I stood at our back door and looked out. It seemed as if the whole town was alight. The house that was at the top of the hill, which was only a couple of streets away, must have had a direct hit as by morning, it was just a heap of rubble. It was quite a dangerous place to live as we were in the flight path of the German bombers making for Eastleigh airport and the Cunliffe Owen aircraft factory. As Mum and I were alone in the bungalow and the raids were becoming more frequent we didn’t like going out in the garden to the shelter at night. Instead we used to go to bed under a big mahogany table in the living room. We had placed a mattress on the top of it and another underneath for us to sleep on. The following weekend was Saturday November 3rd 1940 the raid started early and went on all night, we were very scared. By morning we were tired but glad to be alive. There was a knock on the door, it was Granddad (Mums’ Dad), and he said that he and Nan had been worried about us being on our own. It was at this time that we were at risk of being invaded and as we were near the coast we were in the front line so to speak. We also had a hill and open ground with lots of trees and bushes at the end of our road. (This now part of the Townhill Estate). Mum thought that this would be ideal ground for parachutists to land on and take cover in the trees, so they were very uncertain times.
Mum was only 26 years old at the time so I can understand how she must have felt. She to appear calm and be brave for my sake so it must have been quite an ordeal to cope with on her own. Nan and Granddad Palmer who lived in Cobden Gardens, Bitterne Park, suggested that we go to the forest where it was considered to be a lot safer. I remember that mum had just put the meat in the oven, she had saved her coupons so that we could have a Sunday roast now and then, as far as I can remember she never took it out of the oven and we certainly did not take it with us. Everything was just left as it was; I don’t know what became of our canary, poor thing. We were not the only people trying to get out of Southampton, the buses were packed. We got off the bus at Ashurst and walked up Woodlands Road. We were knocking on every door until eventually we were taken in by a lady called Mrs. Swayne. The cottage was called ‘Glebe Light’. I have no idea where we all slept because there mum and I, Nan and Granddad and my uncle Bill (mums brother) who was in his late teens. All of the houses and cottages were on one side of the road and the forest on the other. It still looks the same today.
I loved living there; it was my job to collect wood for the fire each day and to go to the village store which was a little way up the road. I was just coming up to six at this time. Uncle Bill still had to go in and out of Southampton to work each day but he didn’t seem to mind. He used to tell us how awful it was there and that we were lucky to be where we were. Another memory I have was going out into the back garden at night where it was pitch black to watch the searchlights over Southampton. We knew that when there was an orange glow in the sky that many buildings were burning. We were very thankful to be out of it.
Finally the day that we had been waiting for came, we had a letter from Dad to say that he had found us somewhere to live. It was not place of our own, only one room for us to sleep in. The rest of the time we would have to share with the family, but at least we would be together again. As we were leaving the village Nan, Granddad and Uncle Bill decided to return to Southampton. I was very excited on Southampton railway station because I was going to see my Dad again, even though he wrote to us every week it was not the same. I was also a little sad to be saying goodbye to my family that were leaving behind. When we arrived at Exeter station Dad was there to meet us and told us that we would have to catch another train to Topsham. The people that we were going to stay with were called Mr and Mrs Rutter and they lived in Monmouth Avenue, Topsham. They had two boys, the eldest being Dennis, he was about 10 years old and Donald who was my age. There was also another lodger; a lady called Beatrice who had a little baby. Mr Rutter was the local postman. Mrs Rutter was a large round lady who was very strict but also very kind and if you behaved yourself everything was fine. I was sent to the local infants’ school. We still had the air raid warnings, but for some reason there was no shelter at our school, so we used to go to the house next door. I can remember sitting in a large pantry but I have no idea where the rest of the school went.
All of the German planes that we could hear were either on their way to Exeter, Bristol and beyond. I don’t think they had much damage in Topsham, not while we were there anyway. I know that after we left to return home Exeter and Plymouth were badly bombed. I will always remember my first Sunday in Topsham; Dad was working so Mum said we would go out and explore. It was only a small place, one main street with all of the usual shops; butcher, baker, grocer, chemist Post Office etc. We also found a small toy shop where Mum bought me a toy watch with a black elastic strap. I wanted to go home then but Mum suggested we walk to the bottom of the road to see what was round the corner. We turned left at the Lamplighter Pub and onto a short road that led to a shingle beach where there were several yachts and dinghies moored. It was the river Exe making its’ way to Exmouth. We lived quite near the railway line which ran from Exeter to Exmouth and on the other side of the track were fields.
Sometimes when Dad was on early turn he would get up at around 5am, cross over the bridge and collect wild mushrooms for our breakfast. They tasted delicious though I’m not sure if he knew the difference between mushrooms and toadstools; anyway I lived to tell the tale. One day I was sent on an errand to the dairy, the milkman would come around with the milk in churns on a handcart. He would ladle the milk into your own jug using pint or half pint measures that had long handles. If you needed more milk you had to take your jug to the dairy yourself. This was what I had been sent to do. Everything was fine until the return trip when on my way back down the dairy steps; I managed to smash the jug against the wall and the milk went everywhere. Mrs Rutter was very cross as the jug was part of a set and I was sent to our room.
As we only had one room there was not a lot for Mum to do after she had helped with the daily chores. Eventually she went to work in a large department store in Exeter. This arrangement worked well for a time because Mrs Rutter was always at home when I came home from school. I can remember being very lonely when I had to spend two weeks on my own in our room when I had measles. My time in Topsham was, for the most part, a happy time.
Continued in part 2

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