大象传媒

A couple of year's ago some youngsters from our local primary school were doing a project about the WW2 and asked me about my experiences as a child. Later on I went to the school and spoke to them, answering all their questions. This is my story as told to them

".....
I was almost three years old when the war began and although my family lived in London my Mum, Nana and I were staying with my Nana鈥檚 friend at Thorpe Bay in Essex when war was declared. Everyone knew that it was about to happen and we were told that if the Southend Pier lights didn鈥檛 come on it would be a sign that the Prime Minister of that time 鈥� Neville Chamberlain 鈥� was about to announce the beginning of the war. We went out that evening onto the seafront and waited but there were no lights 鈥� the next day the Prime Minister broadcast over the radio that we were at war with Germany.

We went home to panic 鈥� because we lived near the docks in London, which would be obvious targets for German bombers - lots of people started to leave London for the Countryside.

Most of the dads stayed but the mums and kids went. My mum and I went to a place called Wallingford 鈥� I can鈥檛 remember whether it鈥檚 in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire but it was thought to be safe there. Mum and I with lots of others went to a church hall where people picked you to share their home. We were quite lucky 鈥� we were picked by a widower who had a big house and my dad could travel there to stay with us at weekends.

However, back home nothing much was happening and everyone drifted back to London 鈥� this was called the 鈥減honey war.鈥�

This situation did not last and very soon London was in the middle of what was called the 鈥淏litz.鈥� I can鈥檛 remember much about those early days of the war but I have one vivid memory of being carried through the streets to a public shelter and all around there were buildings on fire. There were just black shapes and loads of flames. The sky was red and could be seen for miles.

It was then that my family decided that we must get out of London and we all moved to live with relations in Romford in Essex. We never returned to London but made our home in there. When we first moved in with our relations it was really crowded. Besides me and mum there were two sets of grand-parents my mum鈥檚 sister and my cousin. One of my grand-dads insisted on bringing all his caged birds and my auntie鈥檚 cats would sit watching them all day 鈥� hoping for a meal!! One of the sad things about leaving London was not being able to bring our pets. Lots of cats and dogs were put to sleep but many were just left them to fend for themselves.

We would all cram into the air-raid shelter at night and we also had the use of my auntie鈥檚 neighbours鈥� shelter because his family was away but nobody ever wanted to go there because he wore plimsoles all the time and had really smelly feet!!

My dad stayed in London for a while doing 鈥渨ar-work" 鈥� he was a locksmith in the City of London and used to open safes and filing cabinets damaged in fires in the banks and other offices so that the important papers could be saved. Sometimes the fires had been so hot that the papers inside just turned to ashes when they opened the safes and jewellery and money had melted into molten masses.

One of my Uncles was a city policeman at this time and often did 鈥淔ire-watching鈥� duty on top of many of the tall city buildings. He was mainly on a building opposite Liverpool Street Station. During one of the air-raids bombs fell on a troop train about to leave Liverpool Street killing lots of soldiers and those waving them goodbye. A couple of evenings later when Uncle Arch was on fire duty he noticed something shining in the moonlight on the roof 鈥� it was a beautifully manicured finger with nail varnish!!

We didn鈥檛 see too much of the bombing in Romford until later on when the V1鈥檚 鈥淒oodle Bugs鈥� and V2鈥檚 鈥淩ockets鈥� started coming over. These were pilotless flying bombs aimed at London. We lived fairly close to a military aerodrome and big guns there would try to shoot them down before they got to London. Unfortunately, some of these came down on built up areas rather than the fields as intended - they caused a lot of damage and people were killed.

It was a 鈥渄oodle bug鈥� that resulted in my family leaving our home once again to a safer place - it was called 鈥渆vacuation.鈥� As I said 鈥渄oodle bugs鈥� were flying bombs 鈥� you鈥檇 hear them coming and then suddenly the engine would stop and they鈥檇 just fall out of the sky. When you heard the engine stop you鈥檇 wait for the explosion and hope and pray it wasn鈥檛 landing on you.

We lived on a 鈥渂lock鈥� 鈥� my auntie also lived around the corner on the same block 鈥� so when the doodle bug hit her house it also did a lot of damage to ours. During those days we always slept in the air-raid shelter which was in the garden.

The night the bomb dropped I can remember being woken up by a loud thud and saying to my mum 鈥淢um, I鈥檝e got all dirt in my hair鈥� to which she replied 鈥淒on鈥檛 worry about dirt in your hair 鈥� the house has fallen down!!鈥� When I got out of the shelter I expected to see the house flat but in fact it was still standing but had no windows or roof tiles and the doors had all had a meeting in the kitchen!! There was water pouring down the walls from burst pipes and it was a real mess. We obviously couldn鈥檛 live in it and there wasn鈥檛 much left of my auntie鈥檚 house so off we all went to live near Oldham in Lancashire.

We didn鈥檛 always sleep in the air-raid shelter. My brother and I slept one each end of a single bed 鈥� under the table most of the time. We had measles, mumps and german measles under that table. Until I actually had german measles I thought that instead of spots you had little swastikas all over you. I was quite disappointed when I only got spots!!

Towards the end of the war one of my grand-dads died. Earlier in London in the blackout he鈥檇 walked into a lamp-post and hurt his head which he seemed to get over. However, when the doodle-bug fell on my auntie鈥檚 house 鈥� he鈥檇 heard it come over and went out (he lived quite close) to watch it. He saw it drop realised it was close to all of us. He rushed round saw that we were okay but couldn鈥檛 find my auntie or cousin whose house was almost flat. He didn鈥檛 realise they were okay and had been taken to a first aid post in the local school. It was a terrible shock to him from which he never really recovered 鈥� he never saw the end of the war.

One of the worst things was the rationing which continued until well after the war. Sweets of course were on ration and you got them on things called 鈥減oints.鈥� However, since points also bought other essential things you didn鈥檛 often get sweets. However, cough sweets weren鈥檛 on ration and I can remember buying and eating these horrible little black things which made your teeth look dirty and tasted vile.

As I was only three when the war began I didn鈥檛 remember what life was like before the war. I had never tasted bananas or icecream and when I did eventually have my first banana I was so disappointed. The icecream wasn鈥檛 like to-days - it was very watery and melted very quickly.

I hated 鈥淥ldham鈥� 鈥� the family we stayed with had a little girl who was two years younger then me but she was very spoilt. Although younger she was much bigger than me and would beat me up. She also used to push my younger brother about and my little cousin who was only a baby. She wouldn鈥檛 share any of her toys and because we鈥檇 left home in such a hurry we had none of our own. I kept telling my mum I preferred the bombs back home and once our house had been repaired off home we went Those six weeks were probably the most miserable part of the war for me. I had to attend school there 鈥� I would sit on my feet because there was a big hole under my desk and some nasty boy told me that it was a mousehole!! All the children wore clogs and one of them caught my foot with them taking the skin of the back of my heel. They were not happy times. Worst of all 鈥� when we went to Oldham we鈥檇 just broken up for summer holidays. When I got to Oldham I had to go to school 鈥� when we left Oldham they鈥檇 just broken up for summer holidays and when I got back to Romford they were all going back to school. I had no summer holidays from school that year!!

My dad and all my uncles were in the various services. I had three uncles in the navy 鈥� one of them was on the ships which accompanied the oil tankers back and forth to Malta 鈥� that was really dangerous. I had several cousins and uncles in the R.A.F. 鈥� one of them was on the barrage balloons. Several uncles and cousins were soldiers. My dad鈥檚 eldest brother was a prisoner of war in Japan having been captured when Hong Kong fell 鈥� he was working in the docks there. His family were evacuated to Australia. His son, my cousin Fred, was a prisoner or war in Germany. My Uncle Jack went to Dunkirk a fortnight after he married my Auntie Doreen and was captured on the beaches out there. He spent five years as a prisoner of war and was one of those soldiers marched right across Germany. He was very ill and fell back and back in the lines and was eventually carried by two Russian soldiers. He arrived back in England on 8th May, 1945 鈥� VE (Victory in Europe) Day which happened to be his birthday!! Funnily enough Fred and Jack met up during the war in one of the Stalags 鈥� which were the german prison camps. My Mum and Dad come from very big families 鈥� my dad was one of ten children and my mum one of eight. All the men in both families were in one of the services 鈥� they all came home safely. It was not so for many families 鈥� we were very lucky.

I can remember very well hearing that the war was over. I was listening to the radio 鈥� an old programme called 鈥淭he Robinson Family鈥� 鈥� a bit like our soap operas of to-day. They interrupted it to announce the end of the war 鈥� Mum was up the shops 鈥� my brother and I rushed to tell her. All the streets had big parties and it was a wonderful feeling. A little bit sad for us because my dad was still out in India and didn鈥檛 come home until 1946.

After the war ended everything gradually returned to normal although there was still rationing. It was an exciting time. I was too young to remember lots of the things that took place before the war and my brother wasn鈥檛 even born so everything was new to us 鈥� the first Guy Fawkes Night, F.A. Cup Final, Boat Race, Wimbledon, Test Matches, Olympics 鈥� the list is endless 鈥� were so exciting. A new world. The first Olympics after the war actually took place in London and we were there!!

I have been asked if I was frightened during the war. I can honestly say that I wasn鈥檛 because I knew no different. I couldn鈥檛 remember a time without danger. However, when I had my own children I suddenly realised what a terrible time it must have been for my parents 鈥� being apart, in terrible danger all the time and responsible not only for young lives but also ageing parents.

I sincerely hope that you will never have to experience anything like this in your lifetime......."

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