大象传媒

The other war .... I must get this in because I saw the Zeppelin fly over. I didn't know anything about it but all I remember is seeing this thing in the sky. I was about 4陆 years old because my brother.... it was going all over Bedford that night because, my father told us, they were looking for Allen's - to bomb Allens because they did all the engineering work didn't they, for the war. But they couldn't find it and they were hovering around a long time that evening - it was dreadful. My brother wanted to go outside so my mother took me and my brother and two sisters to see it go over and I wondered.... that memory always sticks in my mind. But as I got older they told me the story of this Zeppelin going over - instead of bombing Allens they bombed the Igranic because that's another engineering works. But I was so frightened because it looked like a great big shark ... just remember it was pitch black ... we had all the lights out and we saw this 'thing' come over the house, very low looking for Allens factory. And it turned round ... it looked just as though it was going round our house and it turned the other way to go to the Igranic ... to bomb Igranic. I just wondered if anyone saw the Zeppelin. But what amazed me, there were no searchlights on it. Now in the last war there would have been searchlights ... but no searchlights.

Did anyone see the doodlebugs flying over? This is when they warned us about the gas coming. My baby was 4 months old and I was sitting downstairs in dim light and a knock came at my door about 12o'clock midnight. I answered it and there were two Air Raid wardens stood there with a box about like that (Liz uses hands to show box about 2'6" x 1'6")and they said "I'm sorry to upset you dear but can I have your baby for 5 minutes, I want to see if he fits in this (like a coffin)?" I burst out crying, I said, "Oh dear, don't put my baby in there" but they had to get it fitted right and that's when they warned us about gas and I had to have a gas mask on. Do you know I sat there all night crying, waiting for this gas explosion. That frightened me, really frightened me that did.

(Dancing at the Parochial Hall at Kempston.)

Well I had, we didn't live far from Kempston Barracks so down across the road we had to have evacuees, did you have them? Yes, evacuees and I had an evacuee girl and she used to drive the Americans about in her jeep, very nice and her name was Liz. And she used to say, "You go to the dance tonight, I'll look after your baby" so that's when it started because she use to love to look after m y baby and I didn't mind going to dance to break the ..... so that's when I went to Cryselco dancing and all round.

(Where was your husband?)

He was in the fire service, he wasn't there. Don't tell him. (general laughter) Well, if you must say that then I was dancing one night with this American and I got on well with him as a partner, my other friend said, "Liz, look who is standing at the door". It was my husband, he was in the Fire Service, I said, "Oh, my godfathers what has happened?" He came home on leave and he came to tell me that he was home for 4 days, so I had to rush home. He said, "Can you get back to Foster Hill Road on your own or do you want to come back on the fire engine?" The fire engine was outside. I said, "No thank you." So I walked home from Cryselco to Foster Hill Road, that was a long way, wasn't it, that was at 12 o'clock at night and I was frightened then. But my ATS girl she was there waiting for me. But one night when I didn't go out, she came home early on her jeep, left it outside and she said, "If the door goes don't answer it Mrs Sharp because there's an American after me and I don't want to go out tonight" so I said "alright then." A knock at the door - she was upstairs - I wouldn't answer it and he said, "You don't have to tell me that she's not there because I've been following her and she's there alright and I'm taking her out tonight." So ..... we had Americans. I had one stationed with me for a little while, we had to have evacuees and then I had a soldier after that.

(and were they a lot different to English people?)

Yes. Well, they were decent. They only used to come to sleep we never had to feed them. Yes, that was all through the war. Although my doctor said that I needed, the fact that, and he wrote out that I was still nursing the baby, but when I saw, I looked out of the window one day and there was all these little children walking down Foster Hill Road, did you remember that?

(I didn't live there then.)

Oh, no..... two soldiers at the side of them walking and I looked and I thought .....oh, I can't ..... I must have one of them. So I went outside and one of the soldiers said to me, "It's a pity nobody wants the boys." Because I love little boys, I had three of my own, and I said, "Oh, I'll have one" and this little boy started crying and he said, "my mum said we haven't got to be parted" and there was his brother. There were these two boys left, they'd wrapped all their things up in newspaper the mother did, their toothbrush ..... that broke my heart so the neighbour across the road she said, " Now look" she said, "I'll have your brother and Mrs Sharp will have you. So you can either go and play in Mrs Sharp's garden or ....." and it was Ronnie Carroll.

(chorus - Ronnie Carroll? Oooh ....)

Well it was him, he lived in Ipswich and I really did take to the boy. One night we were sitting under the table with the chiffon curtain over us because it was the blackout and I started singing to him and he said, "I know that little song" and he sang with me. I had got my young baby in my arms and Ronnie Carroll on the other side and I always remember that. I had him for .....oh, quite a time because his father came over to see him and he said, "Do you want to keep him?" I said, "I'd love to." Of course, he had to go home, I couldn'g keep him. But I really felt that I wanted to adopt him because he was so polite and his brother used to be just the same. It was a good story because he turned out, I got him dressed and when my husband did come home on leave he took him out and bought him a suit, a top and some trousers because they were very very poor, very poor. Come, I don't know from some part of London. His mother used to be on the railway, used to clean the engines out, not that I've got anything against that, she had to do something during the war I suppose. But I really did enjoy that, having an evacuee.

(Did they give a camp bed and one blanket for them, Liz?)

No. Just his toothpaste and his flannel wrapped up in a piece of newspaper. Oh, it was so sad.

(Did he remember you after that, Liz? Ronnie Carroll?)

No ..... no. I was a bit upset because when they did 'This is your Life' I saw it and I wondered if he would mention during the war that he was stationed with a lady but ..... perhaps he didn't remember because he was only 4陆 or 5 years. His brother was older. I had lots of evacuees but I can't grumble about any of them. They were very decent, the soldier and then I had a young fellow about 19 he was Janes the Builders in Luton, it was their son, now they did thank me for looking after him. But he was so polite too but then he said next day, "I'm sorry, I'm leaving, they're off to ..... " and his mother rang and said he never did come back and he never came back. He was only about 18 or 19 .....that did upset me. Well, that's one story of my life.

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