大象传媒

I was 5 years old I lived at Stoneleigh Avenue, Worcester Park, Surrey I was living with my mum and dad and younger brother.
Around 1940 my earliest memory was using the cupboard under the stairs as a makeshift shelter. My dad chose this to be the safest place in the house, away from the windows in case of glass shattering.

One night I remember my mum and dad looking up the road where a bomb had landed 25D yards away. The next morning I had to pass where the bomb had hit the house and destroyed it
Shortly after that, dad built an air raid shelter in the backroom. This was made of G inch timber, the sides were reinforced by steel mesh, and the top was made of the top of our snooker table. Most evenings were spent in the shelter. My dad was determined not to give in to the bombing and spent most evenings working on his stamp collection. He only went in the shelter when hearing the bombers coming over.
During the day there were still air raids and we were often at school, so when the air raid started we were guided to big air raid shelters half buried in the ground out on the playing fields.

One weekend I was playing at my friend Robert Holmes house when the air raid warning started. (All the mums in our area seemed to have agreed to keep any friends at their house during the air raid instead of trying to get them home).We were put under the dining table, but could still look out the French windows, we were excited to see a dogfight high in the sky, this was the name we gave to a fight between 2 or more planes. As a child it was exciting but when I was an adult I realised that at least one of the pilots was killed.

The air raid warnings were made by klaxon horns attached to buildings or telegraph poles, Klaxon horns are powerful electric motor horns. The warning was a undulating noise, the all clear was a level tone.The above are my memories that came immediately to my head

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