大象传媒

Living in rented town houses.

I was born on 15th January, 1933 in Friar Street, Droitwich. During the war years I lived in that street with my parents William (Bill) and Edith Hemming and my two brothers and two sisters; brother William was the eldest, then came sister Margery, followed by me (Harry), my sister Anne and youngest brother John. In 1941 we moved to St. Richard鈥檚 Gardens, where we all lived in a two bedroom house to begin with, that was very cramped for all of us. Then we moved again into a five bedroom house in the same road, which was much better. My parents rented these properties.

Our basic education began before we were five years old.

We all attended a primary school in Winnetts Lane until we were eight years old, then we transferred to St. Peter鈥檚 Elementary School in The Holloway, Droitwich where we completed the rest of our education, leaving when we had reached the age of fourteen.

British people prepared for the invasion.

There had been warnings from the Ministry of Information that war was likely. Lots of preparations had been made.

Long before war broke out we had been issued with our gas masks and had to remember to carry them with us all the time.

Blackout regulations

In September 1939 the blackout began; ARP wardens, ensured that every household had prepared for this all windows had to be had to have curtains or covering to block out all light which could attract enemy aircraft. Our Dad saw to it that we had wooden frames made to fit every window of our house; these were covered with roofing felt cut to size. As soon as we heard the warning of an air-raid, all the felted frames were put into place ensuring that no light could be seen from outside.

On 3rd. September 1939 War against Germany was declared.

They had the pub windows open and people sounded excited. I remember that day so well, we were living in Friar Street, opposite The Hop-Pole public house.

We were fortunate that no bombs were dropped in our area. However, one night when the enemy planes were flying overhead en route for Birmingham and Coventry, our Mother made us all sit under the big table, she gave my brother William a lighted candle to hold and he accidentally set fire to the table with it!

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Rose Parish of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Harry Hemming and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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