大象传媒

MY EARLY LIFE

Location of story: London 鈥� Ramsey

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Three Counties Action on behalf of Norman Alan Landry and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

I was born in 1936 at 15 Hesketh Road Forest Gate London. I can remember the bombing.
Fmily at first took shelter under the beds table and staircase. Later we had an Anderson shelter in the garden, sleeping head to toe.

Due to the sirens going off continuously we only used the house for meals.
In 1941 my brothers and I were evacuated to Ramsey, Huntingdondhire.
Our accommodation was rooms above 鈥淩idgeleys鈥� grocery store in Great Whyte.

The Lighting being gas mantles and oil lamps. Outside toilet very primitive. Mother used all the left over soap for washing clothes also had a mangle. I remember the cheese wire and the smell of coffee being ground we had drinking chocolate sent over from Canada.
I remember an air raid warden picking up two incendiary bombs and burning his hands. My father was a reservist at Wood Lane Army Camp. There were searchlights Ack Ack guns. In their spare tie soldiers made toys.
We took our radio accumulators to he grand cinema for charging.
On Thursday nights we listened to ITMA with Tommy Handley on radio.

Saturday night was in town tonight 鈥� those were the days 鈥� letter from America enemy aircraft attacked bus with its lights on. Just off Backway Green Ramsay two German crashed into a field (good time for collecting perpex) making rings etc.
One German aircraft trying to escape Jettisons its bombs aiming for a school and church missed but hit some houses.

Never forget the smell of wallpaper from a bombed house. One time my step brother was on leave from the RAF on hearing and aircraft knew it wasn鈥檛 one of ours and literally threw us brothers out of bed.
The USAAF liked our beer. Fights between American Blacks and Whites had chewing gum and shoulder at first we had an Italian prisoners badge, then German.

They worked on the land; they were free to drink in the Pub in Little White.
At the end of the war there were bonfires the length of Great Whyte and a street party.

Being Londoners we weren鈥檛 exactly welcome at school. I remember the ration books and clothing coupons. Sweets were 录 lb each so I had sweet coupons that people didn鈥檛 need. I remember the food stores overhead pulley system for sending money to the cashier.

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