大象传媒

I was 12 at the outbreak of war and my sister was 6. The evacuation of children was under way but our parents thought that sending us to relatives who lived in Worcester was a better option than having us billeted on strangers. We made the journey overnight in a lorry driven by an uncle accompanied by his wife (our foster family) tightly squeezed into a cab for two people. It seemed a very long way in the dark.

Unfortunately things did not work to plan. We were not unkindly treated but we were neglected. Schools had been found for us, so much of the time we were out of sight and mind. I remember feeling lost and very lonely. After several weeks my mother came to visit. She was horrified at seeing my sister`s once beautiful long blonde hair, which curled naturally into tight ringlets, in a dreadful tangle. It had not been washed and was impossible to untangle so off we went to the hairdresser where my sister`s ringlets ended on the floor. My mother took us back home the following day.

We then went to stay with our paternal grandparents in Barnet, North London, where we were well cared for and loved. Other schools were found. There had so far been no air raids so it was decided that we would be just as safe at home with our parents in West Hampstead. School then was part time; alternately one week in the mornings and the next in the afternoons. Much of our time was spent in makeshift shelters somewhere on the premises; in those days air raid warnings were just false alarms. I remember that the girls were expected to bring knitting to occupy us in the shelter. I was knitting a pink vest but I don`t remember that it was ever finished.

When the night raids began we retired each night to an Anderson shelter my father had constructed in the garden. We had bunk beds, flasks of hot drinks and a maternal grandmother who snored and grunted through the night but always insisted that she had not slept a wink! The Anderson was a squeeze for 2 or 3 adults, 2 children and Sally the dog.

So yet another change came about; we stayed in the house throughout the rest of the bombing. It never occurred to me that we might be bombed out of our house although we did have windows blown out or in and furniture scattered. When the siren sounded for the inevitable air raid everyone gathered in the bedroom I shared with my sister and sat on our beds. We sang every song we knew until the all clear sounded.

My father was a fireman on a steam locomotive working from King`s Cross. It was essential work and very dangerous since railway lines were targets for German bombers and it was very likely that goods trains would be loaded with munitions or other vital equipment. Dad could only get to work on his trusty bicycle. He worked very odd hours and could be going or coming home at any time of the night or day. I am sure he worried about us, just as we worried about him. My mother had been put to work in a factory but I believe she must have been released to care for us.

As a manual worker my father received very welcome extra food rations. A woman`s lot was hard. I remember my mother being very disappointed when she put snoek before us, a rather horrid fish which we all tasted and pushed aside. She had waited in a queue for ages for her portion. Queues for food were normal. Dad kept a few hens so their eggs added to the meagre rations and he dug up the lawn to grow potatoes. Clothing was rationed and I still have two very small square scarves which cost several coupons for very little fabric. They did help to brighten up the only smart dress I owned.

At 16 I started work in the India Office in Whitehall as the lowest of the pecking order in the Typing Pool where 10 girls worked. Manual typewriters were extremely hard work compared to the computer keyboards we now use - and the clatter they made was deafening! When a new consignment arrived(usually only one or two for our room)the most senior girl(s) would take them and their old machines would be handed down.

We grew up quickly in those days and I longed to do something more positive towards the war effort but I was a Civil Servant; a reserved occupation. Not being trained in anything other than secretarial work what could I do? I read in a newspaper that volunteers were needed to work in servicemen`s clubs so I applied and, after interview, was accepted by the Stage Door Canteen as a `hostess`. It was a club for non-commissioned men and women where there was food and non-alcoholic drinks. A resident band played for dancing every night and there was always entertainment. The Beverly Sisters were regular entertainers and even Glenn Miller on one occasion. Hostesses were expected to talk and act as dancing partners. It was there that I was taught to jive by an American. It was also there that I met an English airman who became my real dancing partner; strictly ballroom and no romance attached!

Later I also volunteered at the Boomerang Club in part of Australia House; a club open to all ranks of Australian servicemen and there I met someone very special. He was pilot of a Lancaster bomber flying pathfinder missions over Germany and later dropping food to the starving Dutch people. When he returned to base after leave I never knew whether I would see him again. The end of that young romance came in 1945 when he received orders to return to Australia. I never heard from him again.

Through all the war years my mother was wonderful. She had coped with food and clothing rationing and made many of our clothes. She entertained my boyfriends and fed them, usually on eggs, chips, toast or fried bread; there was litle else in the way of food to offer guests. Somehow we always had a wonderful feast on the table for Christmas dinner and I have no idea what went into the puddings but they were very good. The fruit in them must have been hoarded for months. My father always hid tiny sixpenny pieces (joeys) in the puddings for good luck.

When VE day and peace in Europe arrived we were elated. We were used to losing relatives and friends who had fought so bravely on our behalf and we were very lucky not to have been harmed ourselves. War with Japan continued but finally VJDay came following the dropping of nuclear bombs.

We thought WW2 was the war to end all wars and did not envisage at that time that one war would follow another in the succeeding years.

Fiona Ellis (nee Brooks)

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