大象传媒

In the summer of 1940 I was an 18 year old working as a clerk for the London County Council in Bethnal Green, East London, and the only prospect I could see was waiting for my age group to be called up for military service. Our office was on stand-by for manning Rest Centres at a nearby school, which was equipped to recieve bombed-out refugees if air-raids on London started. Until the "Blitz" in the autumn that meant sleeping in camp beds in the office on a rota basis, playing cards and deciding who was to cook. Eventually on 20th October I was called in to Rest Centre duty as bombed-out East-Enders started arriving; for two months I worked 24 hours on and 24 hours off at Globe Road School in Stepney (Empty as all the pupils had been evacuated to the country), tending to the needs of bombed-out families who trudged to the school with what they could salvage from their destroyed homes. The school and many others had been stocked many months before with tea in chests, sugar in sacks, tined food, blankets, mattresses....etc. I remember the cheerfulness of the Cockneys, who quickly settled in and were soon even singing. Every morning we phoned J.Lyons caterers with the numbers of people and at lunch-time the desired number of hot meals arrived in an insulated van. The organization and forethought was impressive and helped to alleviate the suffering of the refugees.

I mostly travelled the eight miles to and from my home by bicycle - with the disruption of public transport, it was more reliable although the rubble and broken glass everywhere meant frequent punctures. They were exciting times for young people, and I do not remember any down-heartedness or defeatism.

In December I enlisted in the Home Guard and left the Rest Centre Service to others, and resumed work in the office which enabled me to perform my Home Guard duties in the evenings and week-ends.

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