大象传媒

I was born in 1932 so I was 7 when the war started and I lived in Woolwich in South-East London. I kept thinking that it wasn't really going to happen but then it did. We lived on the main road, right opposite a place that made munitions - Woolwich Arsenal - which was targetted a lot by the bombers. I could never understand why our house was still standing and to this day it still seems amazing that it wasn't hit.

I remember being evacuated for short periods to Swansea, to Bedford, to Letchworth but I didn't like that at all even though I wasn't always alone. Sometimes I'd have older or younger members of the family with me. But I was a Londoner and I missed the place and, of course, the rest of my family.

Seeing the Anderson shelter in the 大象传媒's wartime garden, here at Hampton court, brings back lots of memories. We had one in our garden but we never used it because it wasn't as safe as going into a proper shelter, and there were quite a few of them around - the big public ones that were underneath town halls and places like that. The other thing that I didn't like was going to Chislehurst Caves although they were supposed to be very safe. They were huge with lots and lots of bunks, and it seemed a bit like a city when you went in. They were quite a long way from Woolwivch but we knew people who had their 'set-up' there and sometimes they used to invite us to go along with them. The caves were cold, with water dripping, and were horrible, but people actually moved in to them and virtually lived there during the war. Really, we weathered most of the war where we lived in London, opposite Woolwich Arsenal. Bombs were dropped alll around us almost every day but a surprising number of houses in the area survived. I still wonder how that was possible.

I remember watching the flying bombs or doodlebugs, and waiting for the noise to stop. If that happened when the doodlebug was anywhere near, a quick dash for safety had to be made because when the noise stopped, the bomb's journey was over and it was on its way down. When we were in the shelters we could hear the doodlebugs and we would sit there listening for the silence, and then wondering where they had come down, what damage had been done and how many casualties there were.

I don't remember ever feeling deprived during the war - you just got on with what you had. I think that we were all fairly healthy during the was because the food wasn't adulterated.

I still have links with the school I went to, because I teach for Adult Education. There were shelters under the school and we used to have to go in there when the sirens went off. I think they are probably sealed off now but I did wonder if I would want to go in them if they was still there. I decided I didn't want to! But they did provide a sense of security.

I lived quite near a place called Eltham which was quite a bit geographically higher that the surrounding areas, so you can see for a long distance from there. One vivid memory is of being there on a beautiful hot summer's day in September when there was intensive bombng along the Thames around 1.30 or 2 in the afternoon. I can remember looking at the awful devastation and feeling how strange it was that I was up there enjoying the glorious sunshine while not far away such a terrible thing had happened. Even as a child, it seemed not a good balance.

I remember when I was 13, hearing that the war had ended. I was on a bus when someone announced it, and I thought, 'This is wonderful. There will now be peace and harmony in the world in the future. This is the start of something fantastic.' Everybody on the bus cheered and cheered, and the streets were full of excited and cheering people. I have good memories of VE Day when my parents and I managed to get close to Buckingham Palace. That was special! The then Queen wore something blue with a plume in her hat, and all those on the balcony were giving the royal wave. But what was best of all was the warmth and enthusiasm of all the people around, many of whom were climbing up the lamp-posts to see better. It really felt as if peace would be in the world for always.

There were street parties to celebrate the end of the war, and again the atmosphere was so tremendous, it seemed as if this was the path to the future, everyone was going to love each other, and there would be no more fighting. I got that somewhat wrong! But I still believe in harmony - like the Chinese Yin and Yang concept - and when something not so good happens, I do try and find some good in it.

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