大象传媒

We had to carry a gas mask which was issued in a cardboard box with a piece of string to sling over your shoulder. Cardboard boxes did not last long on schoolboys shoulders and enterprising shops sold metal canisters for gas masks, bringing an element of competitive pride between us according to the kind of container our parents could afford.

Air raid shelters were built at the bottom of the playground where once we had practised our Hiawatha rabbit skin curing skills. Now we practised getting in to the shelters in orderly fashion, putting our gas masks on and making faces at one another from inside them. If you breathed very hard, and suddenly, you could make a rude noise as the air escaped from the side of the mask.

For small boys away from the danger of bombing in London, war provided lots of interest and excitement. We could tell a Heinkel from a Messerschmit and of course a Hurricane from a Spitfire. We even recognised the distinctive sound of each. Meccano "Dinky Toys" sold endless models of aircraft, tanks, ships, lorries, guns, soldiers in varieties of uniform. These could be brought to school and displayed with pride or swapped. Girls of course were above all this but then whoever, at that age, thought a girl was worth bothering about. They were in a separate building anyway.

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