大象传媒

I was born in St Thomas鈥檚 Hospital on 12 August 1936. Prior to the start of world war two, I lived with my parents at our home in Kew, Surrey. We later moved to 88 Midmoor Road, Balham, next door to my cousins Jimmie and Patsy McCartney.
I recall trying to help erect an Anderson shelter in the small back garden, which we shared with our downstairs neighbours Mr and Mrs Bartlett.
We hardly used the shelter because it was always flooded, so during the early evening my mother Ellen and younger brother George would walk the mile or so to Balham underground station to shelter from the falling bombs.
What with the trains arriving and departing, being trod on by passengers, the sing songs and the goings on which my mother would not explain, we did not get much sleep.
Then there was the great loss of life when hundreds were drowned underground when a water main was fractured by a bomb.
So for us it was back to sleeping under the stairs during the air-raids. My father John was in a reserved occupation by day and an Air raid warden by night was seldom able to be at home to share our cramped accommodation.
I can still recall trying to say my prayers during the heaviest bomb bursts, but usually ended up saying 鈥淥ur Father鈥� two twos are four, nerves I guess.
My cousin Jimmy and I would sneak out when we could during the raids, and collect very hot shrapnel that fell from the sky. It was highly prized at school.
We also delighted in exploring recently bombed buildings, climbing up broken walls and tightrope walking over broken joists, no sense of fear in those days.
When the air raids became really bad blast shelters were erected at street corners. They were brick structures with a few bunk beds inside. I remember we children spending a whole weekend in one, because the air-raids were so heavy.
We always had early warning of the air raid siren, for when our dog Mickie hid under the fire grate, within two minutes we would hear the siren, and we would head out to the blast shelter.
My mother would first collect her many handbags containing the family insurance policies and then be last arriving at the shelter. One day she was assisted into the shelter by the blast of an exploding bomb, but still she held grimly onto her handbags. She said later Hitler was not going to benefit from her policies. She also said that if the Germans ever arrived, she would put all our heads in the gas oven. That was really frightening.
We remained in London until the Doodle bugs started to arrive fast and furious. I can still recall today the noise they made and even more the silence that followed before they exploded, hopefully miles from you.
The waiting time between the engine cutting out and the crash seemed to go on forever, and that was really scary.
Eventually it became so bad; we were evacuated to Mablethorpe on the east coast.
My mother, my brothers George, baby brother Tommy, cousins Patsy and Jimmy, and auntie Hettie, arrived at this strange place, a house along the side of a dyke (which I thought was the sea).
We were always hungry and cold, but Jimmy and I would crawl under the barbed wire on the beach and collect driftwood and even pieces of the beach shelters for firewood. We would often be threatened with being shot by the soldiers on guard duty.
Jimmy and I would also crawl down into the mud to collect used cartridge shells which fell from the aircraft that flew each day on air to air exercises, firing at towed drogue targets. These aircraft were American lightning aircraft, and many years later I would have the great honour of meeting some of those brave young pilots.
Our Mother became bored so we returned to London early 1945. The street party that we had when peace was declared was really wonderful to us children. Tables were places the length of the street, laden with things we had not seen for years. The hidden rations of butter and sugar provided us children with jellies, cakes and other goodies. The evening finished for we children with a large bonfire fuelled by the by the much used bunks from the blast shelters鈥�.
My fondest memory among many was being present outside Buckingham Palace on VE Day.
I felt so proud sitting on my fathers shoulders, and I guess very lucky to be alive, when so many of my friends and classmates had not survived- 鈥淪hepherds Luck鈥�.

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