大象传媒

Well, when the war started in September 1939 I was just six years old. My brother (Philip) was three. We lived in Cardiff, a large shipping city with a very big docks. I went to a local Church School. The first thing I really remember was the arrival of the local Council workmen to dig up the garden and build an 'Anderson Shelter'. This was a metal shed which was half buried with the earth that had been dug from the ground and placed over the top. It was a place for the family to go and shelter from German bombs.

We made it very comfortable for three of us (Mam, Phil and I). Dad never came into the shelter because, as he was the head of the local Emergency Rescue Service he was always away with his rescue duties. He was a house builder and he had a team of 25 men with 6 lorries and they would dash out to rescue people buried in houses and buildings as well as clear the streets of bomb damage.

Before the shelter was built we used to hide under the stairs. There were bunk beds and an oil lamp and plenty of blankets. There was no electric light in case the enemy aeroplanes would see the lights despite the fact that there was a door. We used to go to the shelter about 7 o'clock each evening even when there was no air raid. It was better to do this than get up in the middle of the night.

The danger was very real and I remember we were sitting having tea when the siren went and we heard planes screaming low overhead. They were attacking a train on the railway line which was only about 200 yards away. Dad quickly grabbed his steel helmet and his gas mask and left on his bicycle for work. Just as he went out of the front door a fire bomb hit the front path and burst into flames. He dashed across the road where there was the food waste bin and took it's lid, coming back very quickly to smother the flames. He saved the house burning down.

Clearly our life in Cardiff was getting very dangerous so it was decided that we brothers would both be evacuated. While all the children except babies were evacuated under arrangements made by the local council I went to live with an aunt in a small village situated in the hills about 10 miles from Cardiff. My brother went to another village. So with suitcase filled with cloths and my gas mask in its box around myy neck I set off with Mam by bus. After arrival at my aunt's large house and seeing my bedroom I set off to explore the village and meet other children. It was to be a two mile walk to school each day in all weathers - snow and rain. Before Mam left she gave my aunt my ration book. Without this it would have been impossible to buy meat and sugar, flour milk and eggs. Also one needed coupons to buy clothes and this was assuming you could find them. I had a lovely Harris tweed coat which was very warm. It had been patched so many times with different pieces of material I earned the nick name of 'Joseph'.

The village was very isolated and there was no water in any of the houses, nor electricity nor gas. All these luxuries were to come many years after the war. So a bath was a tub next to the wood and coal fire in the living room. We had a radio to listen to the 6 & 9 o'clock news.

In the alley, about one mile from the village was a factory making aircraft engines. A natural target for air attacks. One day an attack occured and the bombs missed the target landing in a field below the village. We as boys went to see the very large craters and to collect the small pieces of shrapnel which we would take to school to exchange for sweets and marbles.

in the holidays I would return to Cardiff to see my mother and brother. One time when we were at home the city was subjected to a bombing attack. A 'land mine' fell two streets away and when it exploded it cracked all the windows in the front of our house but they did not break because we had criss-crossed each pane of glass with a brown sticky paper. However in the next street about ten houses were destoyed and all the furniture and personal property was scattered about. A member of the Air Raid Precaution Service patrolled to stop anyone stealing property.

School times were changed because one could not have lights on as this would help the enemy planes. Also some of the school classes were very full because of the evacuees. Because I lived in the country we were able to collect blackberries, mushrooms, hazel nuts, wild plums - damsons, and naturally we went 'groping' for apples and pears.

Then eventually in May 1945 the war in Germany ended. I was in Cardiff by then and was able to enjoy the great street party. All the families took chairs and tables into the street. They spread tablecloths over them and then all the mothers produced the most super spread of cake and sandwiches, tea and lemonade, jelly and blancmange, custard and tinned fruit, which had been saved. We were all given a banana each as a special treat.

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