大象传媒

Like my father, most people had a job, but most had to do extra work for nothing in the evening or during the night. My father's extra job was as a firewatcher and had to work evenings and nights to look out for fires caused by incendiary bombs, and then alert the fire fighters. There was no food laid on for the people doing this extra work so my brother and I had to take him some hot food and drink. My mother would put it on a plate, wrap it in cloth, and place it in a basket.

It was only about half a mile there and half a mile back. The first time we did it we noticed that two houses had been completely destroyed in our road while we had been evacuated. Further on there was another large area where several shops and house had been bombed. Here, some of the debris had been removed and large metal tank filled with water had been put there. It was just as large as any swimming pool I know and was filled to the top with water. This water was used to put the fires out.

It was dark when we approached the shed where my father was working, but we could see the silhouette of a man outside, sitting down, with what looked like a gun in his hand. He never moved, even when we got very close. "Dad, where are you," whispered my brother so as not to disturb the man. My father heard us and came out smiling. He could see we were nervous, so he introduced us to the man with the gun who still did not move. "Here is our tar guard," said my father.

And so it was. A life sized man made out of solid black tar, dressed in an army uniform and holding a piece of wood shaped like a gun. "We leave him on duty all night to deter any intruders," said my father. "He doesn't mind the rain and the cold."

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