大象传媒

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

In the Spring of 1939 there was the "Munich" crisis, when it was thought that there would be a war with Nazi Germany. Late in the evening, a man came up the road from the main road selling papers calling out 鈥淧eace in our time鈥�. Not long after that it was obvious that peace was not to be, so we had to go to Mora Road School to collect our gas masks in case war was declared. We all went there one evening but I didn't realise the significance of it all. I suppose I thought it a bit of fun. The gas masks were tried on and adjusted to fit by one of the helpers. You carried it in a cardboard box, with a string attached so that you could carry it over your shoulder. The boxes were not very sturdy and before long many other types of containers were made. We were issued with identity cards. The authorities came to each house to check who was living there. Air-Raid sirens were erected at various points around the district and they were tested to make sure that everybody could hear them. Our nearest siren was in Dollis Hill Lane, next to the Police Box, and an A.R.P Post, a concrete construction, near St. Andrew's Hospital. Air raid shelters, made of brick were built in the roads around the neighbourhood.

We had a couple of small ones opposite our house and they were later used as a fire-watching post. Anderson shelters, made of corrugated steel and sunk into the garden, were distributed to those households that wanted them. Dad eventually constructed his own made of brick and up till then, the family shared the Anderson shelter with friends at the back of the house.

In Dollis Hill Avenue, near the Edgware Road were a fleet of Green Line coaches, which had been converted into ambulances. Cars had to have special blackout covers over the headlamps so that they did not show too much bright light. All motor vehicles had to have the mudguards painted with a white edging. Bicycles also had to have white edging to the mudguards and also a red rear lamp. The buses and trolleybuses had their windows covered in very heavy material so that they would not splinter in the event of and bombs falling nearby. There was a small hole in the material so that passengers could see out a bit. There was very little light on the buses, so it was impossible to read or hardly see anything at all. Trees and lampposts in the roads were also given a white band of paint. Torches were an essential when going out at night. It was quite different when you had been used to street lighting.

The draper's shops started selling blackout material for the windows of the houses and ideas of how to make blackout curtains were advertised in the papers. The shops themselves had to have their windows covered and blacked-out. It was advised for each home to have one gas-secure room and made thoroughly safe in case of a nearby gas attack. The only family, who took this advice, in our road, was at number 14, the Calderwoods, where they had this special room, which was properly sealed, with tape over the windows, so that if they were to shatter, they would not cause too much damage.

Dad always said that there would not be a war as all the leaders of the European countries were too sensible. He knew what it was like in the First World War and he thought that Germany wouldn't do anything that would cause another war. How wrong can you be!

Just before the evacuation of school children from London in late August 1939, I remember going to my school, the St Marylebone Grammar School, to find out what to do when it was announced that the evacuation of school children was going to take place. Whilst we were waiting our instructions, we were taken to the Open-Air Theatre in Regent's Park to see an afternoon performance of "Twelfth Night". On the way back to the school, there was a lady, with a cine camera taking a film of us. For some reason that has always stuck in my mind.

Dad decided that he didn't want me be evacuated with the school, to some unknown destination, so he arranged for mother, my sister, Lucy and me to go to Leicester to stay with Uncle Willie and Aunt Ena and cousin Marie Rose.

On the morning of the 3rd September 1939, Mr Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, made his historic announcement on the wireless that Great Britain was at war with Germany. I remember hearing it and it was the start of a terrible time for everybody. We only stayed in Leicester for about a month and then we returned to London, where, as there had not been any air raids, it was thought to be safe.

In the meantime St. Marylebone Grammar School went to Redruth in Cornwall, where in early October, I joined them.

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