大象传媒

In August 1939 my mother and I went down to Newlyn West, about 8 miles from Land's End, 1 mile from Penzance, Cornwall for a holiday at my aunt's. We went for 2 weeks, but after one week, there was some news on the radio which proved that war was imminent. It was just before my 11th birthday. We packed up and went home. War was declared on 3 September. I had a scholarship to The Northgate School for Girls which, along with the The Northgate School for boys on the same site, was a scholarship school at grammar school level. At these schools you had to sign a bond that you would be allowed to stay until you had taken the school certificate leaving exam - unlike the secondary schools were you left at 14. We were due to start on the Thursday of the 3rd week of September, but our entry was delayed for a few days until the airraid shelters were competed. In the apparent wisdom of our then government, it was decided to bring children from the Ilford High school in London to Ipswich although Suffolk was susceptible to stray bombs and shot down planes on their way to and from London. We shared our school with the Ilford students on a shift system of mornings and afternoons for about 6 months. Then they were taken away it proved that the evacuation to Suffolk had been unwise, the Ilford children were moved. Plans were made for Ipswich children to be evacuated to Loughborough and Leicestershire. However, my mother felt unable to let me go. I was happy not to go. Funnily, none of my close friends, three of us in number, went either; we were all the only at that time in our families.

By May, 1940 that was when the other Ipswich children went, my mum and I were told by my aunt to come back to Cornwell, where she felt it would be safer. My uncle had been able to transfer my Scholarship from Ipswich Nortgate School to Penzance High School. I started in Maya straight away. I now understand the need for a National curriculuum because they approached each subject differently and although I was happy there I didn't really understand fully the approach to many of the subjects even maths. During tje August holidays of 1940, I was in the garden and her orchards helping Auntie sort out the fruit and vegetables which she sold at a kiosk in her front garden. Uncle G, who was a cornishman, took me around to all the beaches he could spare petrol for and taught me a lot about the local semi precious stones - he knw his county very well. I still treasure a cornish diamond which was cut for me in a peart shape drop for my 12th birthday. I had found it myself under my uncle's guidance.

One afternoon a stray plane came over. There was a massive explosion, the bomb which blew up Penzance promenade, Mum said we might as well go home. This proved to be the forerunner of 'The Battle of Britain'. We returned to Ipswich by train with some difficulty. The trains were packed. Then I went back to Northgate School for the duration of the war.

We didn't exactly get blase but after the beginning of the war when the air raid sirnes went, we got so we might ignore them and carry on with watever we were doing. I do remember one afternoon, a bright blue sky, seeing a parachute slowly coming down when mum and I were at Barrack corner in the town. Mum said she hope de didn't land in her nasturtium bed, which were actually planted over the air raid shelter. When we got home, we discovered that the pilot, probably German had in fact landed six gardens away.

Another time we were in the house, after Sunday lunch and we saw another parachute slowly coming straight down - absolutely straight down directly behind our house. When he was just above roof top level, a gust of wind picked him up and carried him right acrosee Yarmouth Road. (We lived on Bramford Road, three houses up from the crossing). He landed in the Bramford Road school playground, behind big wooden gates, now the premises of the Ipswich Records Office. Everyone ran out, across the road and watched the gates being unlocked and the pilot beigh escorted away, the authorities who had arrived in a dark green vehicle. He was German.

I think it should be mentioned that at school there were very strict safety rules; you always kept your gasmask with you changing classes, going to the gym, to the swimming pool changing rooms, etc. if you left it at home, you were sent to get it and if there was an air raid alarm, you immediately went into the airraid shelfters at the far end of the field, whatever your state of dress or undress. Early in the war they put a barrage balloon in the school field, by the netball court, it became a competition for the last member of the class to reach the bottom of the steps in the airraid shelter, before the balloon which was permanently manned, had reached its full height. Each form was assigned its place in an airraid shelte. They were very simple long with just forms or benches to seat us all. We used to sing all the war songs, which I hadn't known before as we had no radio at home. Everyone was well behaved. The only restriction was if the airraid interrupted an examinations, the teachers were very careful not to allow any comparison of notes.

In my first year at school, because of the concern over the shortage of paper expected as the ships were carrying only main equipment and food, less wood pulp therefore being available from Norway. We were issued with slates and slate pencils instead of rough books. We were the only class that was affected but we still had the neat books for final writing up. In the winter if the boilers broke down we weren't sent home; we were allowed to wear out woolies, coats etc as the boilers might bot be able to be mended for a long time - shortage of parts and manpower. Chilblains on the feet were rife in those days. All biology and other school trip out were curtailed. When we had cookery classes, we were told to bring this that the other which all had to come of our home rations. Marg and sugar were the main dificulty. We used to put sticky tape (not clear tape) on the windows; that was to keep the glass from falling on someone if the windows were broken. People used to makepatterns on their windows, some X's, some like panes like on Tudor widows, whatever they wanted. We were told at school never to pick up strange objects not even what might have looked like a pen -it could be an incendiary bomb. But the father of one of my frineds, who was a gardener at Belstead, oned day saw a 'strange thing' in onle of the tiles. he'd never seen anything like it, but he took it down and handed it to his next door neighbour - that man said they'd better notify the police. It turned out to be a new butterfly bomb, they called it which hadn't exploded! usually people were so suspicious they wouldn't even tell you where the next village was - all the road signs were down. My dad and I cycled towards Manningtree once and were looking for Wix. My dad asked someone, but the person said, you might be a german parachutist and wouldn't tell.

My cousin who worked on the Cornhill and cycled to work, went to work one day in may 1945 as usual and discovered everywhere was deserted. No one about; it was one May morning and she couldn't get into the shop, she didn't have a key, she knocked loudly on the door until a woman who lived up above came down; she was not pleased to be woke at 8.00am after only getting to sleep at 4.00am! She said that the revellers on the Corn Exchange had made so much noise all that late, celebrating the end of the European war VE day! My cousin hadn't heard anything about it, they didn't have a radio!

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