大象传媒

I was born in 1935 in a flat above the Seymour Laundry in Cromwell Road, Plymouth, but moved from there in 1938 to a bungalow at 63 Laira Park Road, Plymouth. This was fortunate as the laundry was hit early in the war.
The railway was an important target and our Air Raid Shelter, in the garden of number 65 next door, was very close to the railway and to the area where engines were washed and refuelled. I used to walk under two railway bridges to get to school each day! I did not understand the danger at the time.
Many times the bungalow ceilings came down and windows were broken by the blasts and on several occasions mum and me would go to stay with relatives in London whilst repairs took place.
One night, I think I was about 6 or 7 years old, my mother and I spent the night in the air raid in the shelter. Our next door neighbour鈥檚 husband and my father were ARP wardens and on duty for the night.
When the all-clear siren went we left the shelter and I went to the wooden gates at the top of the drive (which were very high). As I opened the gates I felt the heat of fire and as I progressed down the drive I could see the huge flames. Upon arriving at the end of the drive we were met by an ARP Warden who said to my Mum 鈥� 鈥淛ust keep walking lady. You cannot go into your home and you will be met by a WVS lady who will tell you where to go for the rest of the night.鈥�
We were only wearing nighties a coat and shoes. My mother was carrying an attach茅 case containing all our insurance policies and small tins of money to pay any utility bills. My mother鈥檚 reply was: 鈥淲e鈥檒l get a train to London鈥�. whereupon the ARP Warden said 鈥淭here aren鈥檛 any trains running as there are three unexploded 500lb bombs in this area.鈥� So we just walked until we were met by a WVS lady who directed us to a house in Chudleigh road - I believe it may have been no 21.
The terraced house was full - lots of children and adults. The adults spent the night drinking tea. I was put into a bedroom with a double bed and a single bed. All the children were put top to toe in each bed. I was the only one to fall asleep. I believe there were 21 children and 14 adults there that night.
Next morning I was dressed in a dress that was far, far to big for me, but it had shirring elastic around the waist. The dress was pale blue and had small red rosebuds on it. Children and some adults went to watch the firemen and soldiers trying to put out the flames which were still burning - I kept having to pull the dress up so I didn鈥檛 trip over the hem.
There wasn鈥檛 any school because of the bombs and the damage. We stayed in the house for 14 days, until the bombs were de-fused and fires put out. Because dad was a warden he was able to go to our home and collect a few clothes for mum and me. During this time the bungalow would have been repaired.

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