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I was almost 5 when war was declared and I lived in Wimbledon on the outskirts of London. I remember the announcement on the radio (wireless in my childhood days) and a neighbour coming to our house, shouting and crying that the Germans were coming. I can recall visiting bombed sites and looking for shrapnel. The biggest piece found made you feel great until another child found a bigger piece. I also recall sleeping with my brother and sister under the stairs, which was said to be a safe place. Another memory is of watching the ‘doodle bugs’ flying past the end of our road, hearing the cut out and the explosion was 5 minutes later. Our house was severely damaged on 2 occasions. Windows were blown in, ceilings falling down and lots of china being broken. We had to go to a reception area to get blankets (dark grey and not very warm) because ours had beams ruined with shades of glass from the windows. I was evacuated twice. Although it was a terrible time with lots of death and casualties, poor food and very little of it, we as children made the best of it and I cant recall being terribly upset.

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