大象传媒

Recollections of WW2
My recollection of the War 鈥� I was 8 years old in 1941 鈥� include: -
飩� We had a large garden with a tennis court. In 1939 the latter was arranged in allotments and these were made available to neighbours. Most were used in this way for 2 years after which we had hens and an irregular supply of fresh eggs, then very scarce.
飩� In 1940 my father ran the local ARP 鈥� Air Raid Precautions 鈥� post and organised each Sunday morning before church, street corner demonstrations at which ordinary folk could learn how to and practice, dealing with incendiary bombs 鈥� there was little you could do about high explosives but incendiaries did the most damage by starting fires. We kids used to attend these and became most proficient. The procedure I still remember after over 63 years. 鈥淎pproach the bomb on your stomach and lie flat while you counted up to 50 slowly 鈥� the Germans placed small high explosive charges in incendiaries to deter fire watchers 鈥� then get the bomb into the special long handle shovels about 8 ft long with a 6ins tin stuck on the end of a pole, with the help of the equally long rake. Place the bomb in a safe place and cover with sand. Put out the fire with your stirrup pump 鈥� a hand pump issue to all firefighters.鈥�

We 8 year olds became so good we got and old pram and turned it into our own fire engine complete with long handled shovel, rake, bucket each of sand and water, and our own stirrup pump. Hearing of this the Germans stayed away from out town!
飩� So much is said today about children and fire arms, but we all did regular rifle shooting at school, many of my class mates being farmer鈥檚 sons had their own rifles, and on at least one occasion a fellow pupil brought an automatic to school for us to see and learn how to use. We learnt as a matter of course how to handle and respect firearms. I believe they are their most dangerous when in the hands of persons nervous about them.
飩� Our school had a cadet corps and once a year a field day, On this day we were all issued with 5 blanks for our 303 rifles and set off at platoon strength to attack and/or defend against a neighbouring school similarly equipped. We were told not to fire the blanks at less than 20 yards as they could blind! Luckily the two armies rarely made contact. We return to 鈥渂arracks鈥� exhausted, but having enjoyed a good break from schoolwork, having eaten our 鈥渇ield rations鈥� and fired our blanks at each other.
飩� In the summer I along with cousins were sent off to work on the farm. No one had time to look after children, as a result we got freedom unknown to today鈥檚 generations. We wondered mile away. No one knew where, the only rule being to come home when called on the whistle which you could hear 3 miles away. On one occasion our party of 8 to 11 year olds was sent to chop down some trees for firewood. No supervision. No instruction. Just get on with it. On another occasion, a friend鈥檚 father hired us a sailing dinghy which we sailed out to sea 鈥� not very far admittedly 鈥� again with no instruction and no supervision. Imagine that happening today!!

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