大象传媒

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I was nearly four when war was declared in 1939 and shortly afterwards my parents moved house. Their house had been on the market for some time, as my mother and her sister had been proposing to open a baby linen shop, so long, that I think they had almost forgotten the fact, but in Nov 1939, an offer was made for the house by someone wanting a bolt-hole from London, so they decided to move nearer to the Infants鈥� school in Ewell Village. My mother who remembered sheltering from the Zeppelin raids in Croydon in WW1, didn鈥檛 relish a mile and a half walk to the school, eight times a day ( there were no school dinners 鈥� children came home for dinner each day!). Although I just four, no-one knew what the future held.

I don鈥檛 remember living in Limecroft Close, or much about moving to Green Lanes but I do remember masses of house leeks growing our new back garden- my mother hated them!!

I remember meeting a boy who lived in the road, and I told my Mum that he was called Half a Moon, (Arthur Moon)

I remember being in the shelter, hearing the whistle of the bombs and the crack of the Ack Ack guns as they travelled along the Horton Light Railway line. Mum said that they sounded like big dogs barking and we gave the different sounds dog names like Spot and Fido.

I remember being carried indoors from the Anderson shelter in our garden, wrapped in an eiderdown, and being placed in an armchair in front of the electric fire. The eiderdown gave out clouds of steam in the heat!

I remember seeing our garden fences burning from incendiary bombs 鈥� Dad said they looked like Catherine wheels.

I remember travelling with Mum to Bideford in October 1940, to stay in lodgings which my aunt had found us. Her son鈥檚 school had been evacuated there so she went too. We had to queue for hours at Waterloo station; we had to stand all the way and the journey must have taken hours. I sat on the suitcase most of the time.

I remember starting school at East the Water School 鈥� infants and juniors divided into 2 classes. My teacher Miss Bow, was "old" with a black moustache!

I remember coming home from Devon, in a lull in the Blitz, and seeing to my surprise, cauliflowers growing in our front garden. My father always said that these were the best he ever grew.

I remember the man next door, who lodged with us while his family were away, eating his precious boiled egg, with only one slice of bread! I made mine last for at least three slices!

I remember returning to Bideford, this time with another aunt鈥檚 chow dog plus my mother鈥檚 sewing machine (she used to make babies鈥� waterproof pants at home while I was at school to earn some money. This journey was even more difficult!

I remember the water processions in Bideford for various 鈥渟pecial weeks鈥� in which money was collected for a particular cause. Spitfires, national savings, seamen etc. My mother used to lift me up and sit me on the parapet of the bridge. There were quite a few French fishing boats tied up alongside the river and they also used to take part.

We left Devon and came back home in 1942 and went to Ewell Infants School followed by Ewell Junior Girls鈥� School. In my last year, our teacher was ill so we had to join the lower class 鈥� 96 pupils!

By now, dinners were served at schools and we always used to eat the nicest part of the dinner first in case the siren went and we had to go the the shelters in the orchard behind the school.

I remember the flying bombs especially the one that fell in Riverholme Drive/Sunnymede Avenue. We didn鈥檛 know about flying bombs and thought it was an aeroplane. Between the two sides of Green Lanes was an open green and a stream running through it, All the children used to play there damming up the stream, making trees houses etc and in the morning after the crash there was much speculation about the whereabouts of the pilot!

I remember one particular incident when cycling to work with my mother in the school holidays. The air raid warning had gone; we were passing a public shelter which was by a bus stop. My mother called out to the people waiting there 鈥淐an you here anything?鈥� 鈥淣o鈥� they all replied. We cycled on about 30 yards and turned into Hook Road. We looked up and there was a flying bomb spiralling to the ground 鈥� it鈥檚 engine must have cut out some tume ago and it had bee drifting. My mother grabbed me and we flung ourselves into a nearby ditch, joined very shortly afterwards by a lorry driver who was passing. The V1 dropped in a field about a 100 yards in front of us. The driver said we has saved his life and he would have been very close to the crash.

I remember sitting under the Morrison shelter which was in our back room, watching a V1 chug over dashing into the front room to see where it went and to our horror, it turned round and came back, landing in Nonsuch Park!

I remember VE Day 鈥� all the Mums seemed to be able to find something special for our street party which was spread out on tables carried out to the green.
In the evening several bonfires were lit along Green Lanes on either side of the stream.

We were all very happy.

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