大象传媒

(This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer from Three Counties Action at Bedford VE/VJ's commemorations on behalf of Gwen Jackson and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Jackson fully understands the site's terms and conditions).

I was born in 1941 and my first memory was when I was being carried out of bed and being put into an iron cage or what looked like one in the kitchen. There were bars at the side with bedding in it; it was the size of a 6 foot bed. I can remember my grandfather taking me to the backdoor to watch a light coming across the sky in Bedford and my mother screaming 鈥済et her back inside鈥�. Afterwards for a few years I can remember going to Putnoe Woods and seeing a big crater where the doodlebug came down that night, that hole was there for years in the Mosebury Park.

I can remember the bomb site at the Bedford Theatre and the Grafton hotel being hit but I don鈥檛 think the Grafton is there anymore. The theatre is but it鈥檚 the Mount Zion church now on Midland Road. Before that it was a bingo hall and even though it鈥檚 a church it still has its seat set out like a theatre.

I can remember eating scrambled egg, I can still remember the taste. I like eggs but it was powdery then. There was fruit to eat as we were lucky we had a house with a big garden so we didn鈥檛 go without fruit and vegetables. Compared to some children we had an idyllic childhood. I still have my ration book at home in mint condition.

I can remember my father coming home from the air force in his uniform and I was frightened of him. He was a tall man and was much taller than most of my family. I didn鈥檛 really know him and after all these years I never related to him as he was very strict.

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