大象传媒

I spent the whole of the Second World War in the Medway Towns, although my health (I have for most of my life suffered from chronic asthmas and bronchitis)prevented me from serving in the Forces. I was just under sixteen nears of age when the War broke out.
With the coming of the Second World War our school (the Gillingham County School for Boys) was evacuated to Sandwich (what a coincidence!) but because of my health, I did not go with them. From Sandwich they eventually went to Wales.
For those few of us left behind the War was, quite honestly, a bit of excitement. School was very much a hit-or-miss affair as most of the teaching staff were evacuated with the School. Some of our classes were held in the Girls' School on the Rainham Road, and we were left to our own devices for most of the time.
Air raid warnings were quite common and, at first, everything stopped and we all took shelter. This did not last long, however, and we would usually run into the street and watch for anything happening in the skies above. The daylight raids were quite memorable - watching the vapour trails intertwined with the mass formations of bombers being scattered by the fighter attacks - with the occasional plumes of smoke followed, usually, by parachutes as the crew baled out. I particularly recall one occasion when a fighter was shot down from many thousands of feet and, I believe, buried itself many feet deep in the vicinity of Walderslade. I think that the propellor had been shot off and the planecame down with the engine running full bore - the noise was appalling and seemed to fill the sky.
One night during a raid a stick of bombs fell in nthe vicinity, one of which fell behind oour house and blew me oout of bed! This particular bomb killedc a woman in an Anderson shelter in Jeyes Road, and another from the same stick demolished a haberdasher's shop about fifty yards away. On the same night (I think) the bus depot (about half a mile fromm us) was set on fire and completely demolished.
We all took part in fire-watching, nec essary particularly because of the 2-kg. magnesium incendiary bombs which were dropped in their hundreds in the locality. If they did not explode, it was possible to unscrew the base, remove the fuse, and keep the body as a souvenir. I have vague recollections that, later on, a device was incorporated which prevented this, causing the bomb to ignite if the base was tampered with - I am not sure about this however, and it may have been just one of the many rumooours which flew around at the time. The equipment provded for dealing with the incendiaries was along-handled shovel and a bucket of sand. The bomb was shovelled up and tipped into the bucket of sand. If a fire HAD started, if still not too large, it was delat with by means of a stirrup pump. This was a widely distributed pump which one placed in a bucket of water and pumped the handle up and down, directing the jet (or spray) onto the fire in an attempt to bring it under control. For small fires just starting, particularly in attics and suchlike, this was very effective.
One of the anti-raid effects was to light 'smoke pots' all over the Medway Towns to provide smoke haze to confuse the enemy bombers. I don't know what they used in them, but they had a very poor effect on my breathing!! The anti-aircraft cruiser H.M.S.Arethusa (I think)would throw up a colossal barrage from the Dockyard, but I don't remember anything being hit by it - although it may well have deterred some of the attackers. At one stage, possibly because of a shortage of metal, small squares of marble were used in the A.A. shells. After a raid, many of these would litter the streets and probably did as much damage to the roofs than the bombs.
I commmence work with the Kent County Council Accounts Department in May 1940 at the County Hospital in Magpie Hall Road, Chatham. My first task as a junior was, of course, to make the tea. Although milk was not officially rationed, our office was limited to half-a-pint per day, with a similar amount for the Medical Superintendent's Office at the Hospital. For convenience, the MSO milk was left at our office. Each bottle, in those days, was sealed with a cardboard disc on the top and I was deputed to lift off that of the MSO's milk and carefully pour off the cream, refilling the bottle with water before replacing the top. They frequently complained about the quality of the milk, but never discovered what caused it!
One day a German bomber was crossing the town, machine-gunning as it went. We, of course, ran outside the office to watch until the patter of bullets drove us inside. Later we foound aspent bullet had landed between us as we watched. Truly God loooks after fools.
On another occasion I was crossing the Great Lines on my way to work when I actually loooked down upon a mortally-wounded Dornier which flew low across Luton Town (a suburb of Chatham), eventually crashing on nthe other side of the Medway. Several figures emerged, but it was much too low for the parachutes to open.
Again, I was on a train going to London when it was strafed by a German plane anda bullet passed through the window of the carriage, neatly removing a lock of my hair on its way. I kept it for many years, but have no idea what eventually happened to it.
Apart from other, vital, things, one of the economies forced upon us was the introduction of much paler postage stamps. As I understood it at the time, the dyes were imported from overseas and, by printing the stamps amuch paler shade, considerable amounts of dye were saved.
Every possible piece of land was ploughed up for production of crops - school playing fields, parks etc. and we were all urged to grow as much as possible.
Just after the War started my father dug a large hole in our back garden and shortly afterwards an Army lorry drew up laden with corrugated sheets, four-by-four timbers etc. - all the necessarymaterials to build a bomb-proof shelter. As an ex-Sapper, employed inn the civilian branch (the D.C.R.E) of their stores department he was,, of course, in apposition to 'fiddle' this. Anyway, when the shelter was finally completed I am sure that ours was the safest shelter in the area. Heeding the call to grow crops whereever possible, we grew vegetables even on the top of the shelter, which provided us with lovely tomatoes and beans. I can recall being somewhat shocked when father used the contents of our chamber-pots (no indoor lavatories in those days) to make a diluted liquid manure for the plants.
Telephone communications were often a llittle chaotic , with crossed lines being quite common, and it was one of our office pastimes, when we had a crossed line, to interject comments into someone else's conversation. On one occasion I interrupted call from Chatham Dockyard discussing the pposting of an officer to Scotland. After a brief interval, one of the persons told the other to hang on for a moment while he checked the posting. After a few seconds I interjected a comment "It's O.K. - get him away as soon as you can" and he said "Rightho, I'll do that"and rang off. I have often wondered whether some bewildered Naval Officer later turned up unexpectedly at Scapa Flow. Quite reprehensible really, but being young and irresponsible, we did not consider the possible effects of such actions.
During the War I spent many happy hours at the St. Augustine's Boys' Club at the top of Rock Avenue. My life-long friend, Jack Merritt (with whom I am still in touch) introduced me to the Club, where we played snooker, table-tennis, cards etc. and also spent much time in re-decorating the building, eventually re-roofing the hut itself. I recall this particularly as materials were very short, and it was really difficult to obtain permits for the materials required - mainly, I suppose, because roofing felt, timber etc. was required for repairing bomb-damaged properties. Funnily enough, a couple of years ago I was crossing the Guildhall Forecourt here in Sandwich (where I have now lived for over fifty years) when a former Club member recognised me and stopped to chat. I can't have changed much after all these years if he could still recognise me!!
Rationing did not affect me much, personally, although I have no doubt that my mother bore the brunt of managing with the meagre amounts of tea, bread, meat, sugar etc. Whatis certain is that we never went hungry and I believe that, overall, the nation was a fit then as it has ever been.
Entertainment was, generally, a weekly visit to the cinema, and the radio, with shows like ITMA (It's That Man Again) with Tommy Handley providing comedy and Sandy Macpherson on the cinema organ endlessly filling in gaps in the programmes etc. Then there was the 'wind-up' gramophone with records of the big bands - Glenn Miller, Tommy D'Orsey, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong (my favourite) etc. whose records could all be bought for a few pence from the local stores.
The black-out was rigidly enforced and every night the black-out curtains were pulled before any light was switched on to prevent even a chink of light showing outside. To transgress was to have the local Air Raid Warden hammering onnthe door with the cry "Put that light out" and, for persistent offenders, a fine from the local Magistrates' Court.
I appeciate that most of the above is only a brief recollection of some of the conditions of the time, but perhaps there are a few items of a personal nature which may be of interest.
Charles Wanostrocht.

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