大象传媒

My dad was one of the first residents in Ashurst Road, Friern Barnet (London N 12) to put an Anderson shelter in the back garden. He was always a careful man, and unlike most of our neighbours, he believed we would be affected by bombs intended for London. He had also been in World War 1, and knew all about explosions and how much carnage would follow. A large number of corrugated iron sheets were delivered, with bolts to join them together, and the first job was to dig a large hole. Two uncles were called in to help. As a five year old, I was a fascinated watcher, seeing the lawn removed from the bottom end of the garden, and the turves stacked in piles. The hole was made about ten feet deep and nine feet wide and dad covered the floor area with stones on which he laid a wooden duck boarded area which would be above any damp. The sheets of iron were joined like a tunnel over the floor, making an underground covered cave. Once the turf was laid over the top, it looked like a small hump in the grass. Later on in the war. Dad grew marrows on this roof area, as no ground could be wasted that would grow vegetables.
Dad was a good carpenter, and fitted out the Anderson with bunk beds down both sides to sleep four, a small table by the entrance with a primus stove, cups and tea. Under the table were tin mugs and plates, spare torch and matches, a small box of first aid stuff, and a bottle of water. We got in down some steps behind the concrete blast wall which protected the doorway. The bunks were to be our regular beds during the blitz, made cosy with thick blankets and pillows, and a thick curtain cut us off from doorway drafts.
I wasn鈥檛 to see a lot of Dad in the shelter. After a long shift at work where he designed and made tools for building Spitfires, he stayed on for fire watching on the roof of the factory. He sometimes got home in the early dawn. When he was there, he was reassuring and confident.鈥� Safer in here than the trenches,鈥� he said. I didn鈥檛 know what the trenches had been like then. 鈥淟isten to the guns,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our lot shooting down their bombers.鈥� I wasn鈥檛 afraid. I went to sleep lulled by the noise of our Ak Ak bringing down the enemy from the sky.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.