大象传媒

Born in London in 1935, I was 4 years old when the war started. We lived in Gray's Inn Road, and I remember watching long lines of soldiers marching into Kings Cross Station.

Later on, we moved to a basement flat in Roberts St behind Euston Station and during the air raids the rest of the tenants would come down to our flat for shelter. I used to sleep in a bed-chair which was pushed under the table for extra protection. I still have photos taken at the time.
One night a large bomb dropped close by, the walls shook and my father was knocked off his chair. Next morning we would go out onto the streets to see the damage, and I used to collect shrapnel and tail fins from incendiary bombs.

In 1941 my parents decided that I should go to live with a aunt in Co Durham, so my mother and I boarded a train and it was full of service personnel. It was a night time journey, and during an air raids the train would stop and wait for the all clear. Looking out of the windows, we could see the searchlights in the sky.

My parents survived the war without any harm coming to them, although we lost several friends and neighbours. My grandparents home was demolished by a parachute mine, but they were not hurt either.

After the D-Day landings, I remember that the newspapers printed a map of Europe which I pinned on the wall and with little flags for the nations fighting, I was able to follow the course of the war.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.