大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer from Regents Park Library on behalf of Edna Perry and has been added to the site with her permission. Edna Perry fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Some things I remember about wartime are the people in uniforms from the armed forces to the ARP and of course everyone carried their gas mask wherever they went.

We were evacuated with St. Mary Magdalene鈥檚 School and its teachers to Bedford. On arrival with the teachers Miss Hart, Miss Wardle and Miss Coles and the billeting officer we were taken in a group down the streets and our names were called out to go into the homes along the road.
Being a single child I had hopes of being with another girl but I suppose they were trying to keep brothers and sisters together so I was on my own. Being very shy I didn鈥檛 really mix with my new family of husband and wife, a single daughter and married daughter and husband. They looked after me very well and even took me along to their tennis club but being shy I didn鈥檛 enjoy the attention.

From school Elsie and her brother Jimmy had been placed near me and I was allowed to play out with them. I don鈥檛 think the lady of that house liked two children billeted on her. I know she was a bit scared of her, as one day playing on the swings in the local park she fell and got mud on her coat, so she was told not to go into the park again. We then had to sneak into the park so they wouldn鈥檛 get into trouble.
It was sad that while she was evacuated her mother was killed in an air raid, her father was in the Army and I have a feeling that the teachers broke the news to them.

I must have stayed in Bedford a good few months and we were taken to the local school and joined the local children in their classes. My mother came visiting bringing down my Christmas presents, two things I had for many years a big doll with lovely curly hair. The wig was made by my Aunt Doll (by trade my two Aunts were wig makers), a stamp collection and a collection of German stamps which I expect were given to her by her colleagues who worked in Dietrich鈥檚 Hair dressers (Jewish men and women who had connections with Germany)

As all was quiet I came back home to St Pancras, the school was reopened as more children returned to London. At school when the sirens sounded everyone filed down to the basement playground and in groups the teachers read us books. We got out of many arithmetic lessons that way.
When Dunkirk fell there was worry in case of an invasion so it was decided that mother and I would go and stay with friends in Exeter. We stayed there for about six weeks and apart from another strange school I enjoyed the stay as I was allowed to take the youngest boy out in the pram and in turn taken by the older boy to Saturday morning pictures. What a noise and playing about, I thought you went to see the films.

I lived in a house with my widowed mother, my single Aunt Doll and Aunt Flo and Uncle Charles, their daughters Marjorie and Louisa (who was away in the ATS). Aunt Doll and Uncle Charles were in the ARP as well as having full time jobs. My aunt Flo was a Shelter warden, which meant the three of us when the bombing started had to go out to the shelters every evening and return home in the morning. For a couple of weeks Aunt Flo was in charge of a Shelter in Regents Park and coming home in the morning there seemed to be fires everywhere, including at the end of our garden wall which was attached to St Anne鈥檚 Roman Catholic School where everything was on fire and firemen everywhere. Both Church and School were burnt out.

One thing that was a joy when the bombing ended was to be able to go up to your own bed.
I used to love it when Lou came home on any leave as living in London it was easier to get home and she nearly always had friends she worked with, with her. I used to go down and listen to them laughing and talking, most evening everyone played cards. It was I think with reluctance that I was allowed to play, as after all I was only a kid. They played at a fast pace and I had to stick to the rules but many a time after borrowing some pennies at the start of the game, I went up to bed with my winnings leaving them to play on.

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