´óÏó´«Ã½

I was attending Clapham High School during 1938 and they were preparing for contingencies. They were coming to peoples’ homes and issuing gas masks. When I was measured for my gas mask it made me feel claustrophophic. Soon after we moved to Brighton and then went to Varndean School. At the school they taped up all the windows for the black out, all the children thought it was just a bit of fun. Each day we were rationed at school with a penny bar of Cadbury’s chocolate which was a real treat. We were also encouraged to grow vegetables for ourselves, which was a dead loss as the ground was really chalky. Sirens occasionally went off and all the children would go into the trenches but on this occasion, pips went off which was a sign of imminent danger. Most children went directly to the trenches but I stayed out. I saw a ‘dog fight’ which was between a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt. I was very excited but obviously in a lot of danger. During the war we attended school only for half a day and were given homework for the remainder. We shared our classrooms with children from a London School.

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