大象传媒

Memories Dagenham, England.
At the start, 1939, remember the quite period, where more people were killed on the roads, in the blackout, than from acts of war in this country. We new nothing of the desperate struggle of our troops on the French coast around Dunkirk, until much later. The air raid siren took the place of church bells. At first, channel shipping and airfields were bombed. This soon changed. The drone of German aircraft flying over, guns firing from the park. Many times I used the dining room table or under the stairs to try to get cover from the falling bombs. Then the all clear. Afterwards, the very pungent aroma, a mixture of brick dust, plaster and cordite as I walked passed or collected what I thought was shapnel from bombed out houses. But that smell of those damaged houses seamed to last for many days afterwards. It was not until later that brick and corrugated shelters started to appear in the area where I lived at that time. Most houses were provided with the half oval corrugated built, tunnel- shaped shelters which were bolted together. The ground dug out, and the completed unit was sunk into the hole. The shelter, measuring 6 feet 6 inches by 4 foot 6 inches (2 X 1.38 meters) could be extended for larger familles. For people earning less than 拢250 a year the shelter was free. The working mans wages at this time was between 拢4 and 拢5 a week, (in the days of the big white 拢5 note, old money). Oh how I remember that shelter in our back garden, having to get up in the middle of the night from a nice warm bed, and staggering half asleep, dragging blankets into the nearly always damp hole in the ground called a shelter. I also remember taking my gas mask to school, housed in a thin canvas case with straps so it could be carried over ones shoulder. The practice was to sit in a surface brick built shelter, with the gas mask on. This to us kids, conjured up hysterical laughter when we looked at each other. It was very hard to do this in a gas mask, but we did it. It produced all sorts of very strange sounds, so it was not very long before the mask came off, and practice ended. Younger memories in Valence (Bonham Road) school. Raffia mats for sitting on in the playground. The small bottles of milk with wide tops. The two winged, two cockpit, WW1 aeroplane in the infants school. For a small token one could sit in one of the cockpits, and dream of flying and shooting the enemy machine down. When one is of an early age there is no thought of the bad things of war.
During November 1942 the church bells rang, the first time since 1939. The Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill, had earlier informed us that the threat of an invasion had been lifted and the church bells were no longer used as an impending warning. Together with 大象传媒 news broadcasts, this is how we in the country got to know of the previous reported, backward and
forward movements in Egypt. This had at last ended in a victory at El Aamein, against the German and Italian troops. However the misery of war went on, for many millions of people were still to be killed or injured.
Memories of home food. Pom, packets of powder which was mixed with water to make
mashed potato. Powdered egg. Jam made with vegetables with very little sweet agent in it.
Artificial sweetener was available in small tablet form and called Saccharin. With the lack of food in most the shops, confectioners made and rented out cardboard wedding and birthday cakes, the icing was made of chalk. These could be highered from a bakers shop, for those who could afford to purchase them. If a queue was seen outside any shop, it meant they had some think good to sell, and the person of the house who did the shopping, just tagged on the back of the queue and hoped that what ever they were selling, was not sold out before they got there. Ration books and clothing coupons had been issued in January 1940, the first time since 1918. Sugar, butter, ham could be bought only on production of the ration book, and the allowance, Sugar twelve ounces, Butter four ounces, Ham or Bacon four ounces.
All types of meat and bread, when in the shops, were to be rationed later. But if one had the money to buy from the black market, then life could be a little better.
By 1943 there were not so many air raids by German planes, and the tide of war began to change a little in our favour. Italy had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, but the Germans left in the country were still fighting and retreting ever nearer to their homeland.
In this country, The Welfare State Plan was unrolled to be called The National Health Service. This was a blueprint white paper, reports for a post war social security, devised in the latter part of 1942 and also introduced by Sir William Beveridge. At the time it was hailed as the charter protection for all time... Education Bill became law. It raised the school leaving age to fifteen. Three types of free secondary education, without being means tested.... were Grammar, Secondary Modern and Technical. School playing fields, gymnasia and swimming baths were to be provided by local government.
The tax system was changed. The start of PAYE. The previous mode of collection was by reporting earnings to the Inland Revenue, afterwards being told how much one has to pay. Other changes in this year. One in every ten men called up between the ages of 18 and 25 were now ordered to work down coal mines, instead of going into the forces. The scheme introduced by Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour. The dubbed name of all the men in this position, were called the Bevin Boys. Another order, was to make part-time (up to 30 hours a week) war work, compulsory for a woman of 18 to 45. The order had certain provisos, including having no domestic responsibilities. (For time long before this, women's groups had been trying to get the same conditions and pay, as men working in the same industries as their selves.)
The mystery of biology was solved. DNA, deoxyribonucleic acids, determine the
characteristics of all living things. This breakthrough was the work of O.T. Avery and colleges at the Rockerfeller Institute in New York. In the same year the power new drug,
Penicillin was used to treat infected wounds. This was over three years after the notatum mould was discovered by H. Flory, E. Chain and their Oxford colleagues.
April 1944. The invasion plans on Hitlers Fortress Europe turned the UK into an Allied armed camp. The man in charge of this combined force was the American General Eisenhower. The British field commander was General Montgomery. Completion of their plans were taking place, and large scale military exercises were held on the south coastal areas. I remember long convoys of large lorries packed with American troops going along the main road towards Romford. At the time I did wonder what their war would be like and how many of those soldiers would return to their homes. Then it was D-day, 6th June, with all the even further struggles and horrific supreme sacrifices.
We in England now faced a new threat, the "buzz bomb" or "doodle bug." The V1 a pilotless, jet-propelled aircraft, 400 mph and carrying nearly a ton of high explosive. It had a courious engine noise that most people of my age will remember. When that engine cut out, or at night, the flame from the back disappeared, it took about 25 seconds before it hit the ground and exploded. Then in September a second more powerful terrible weapon hits England. The V2, a longer range, faster than the speed of sound rocket with over a one ton warhead. These gave little warning until they exploded crashing vertically from highs of 30 miles from the sky. The total affects of these caused a second mass wartime exodus of people from London and its outskirts, many returning to their former billets in the country.
At about 1800 hrs on Saturday 29 July 1944, the family and I, had a very lucky escape. One of the buzz bombs, a V1, fell on the end of the houses in Valence Avenue a short distance away from where I lived at that time. I had been on my usual rounds of collecting shrapnel, and looking at it on the green outside my house. My mother had called me in because the air raid warning had gone off. My attention was attracted to the very distinct sound of the flying bomb. Just as my mother and I got to our back garden shed the engine of the V1 spluttered,cut out and the thing went up in the air in a loop, then came crashing down on the end houses
of Valence and Wood Lane, taking part of Groveway with it. Very near to where it fell a wedding reception was in full swing. The grooms aunt was fatally injured. The groom and some of the guests were hit by bricks and flying glass. Three died, one other lady aged 52 and a Canadian service man aged 24. The latter two persons were with others standing at the bus stops at Valence Avenue and Wood Lane. The causalities, three fatal, thirty eight serious, fifty one slight. Our family were extremely lucky. The garden shed had saved my mother and I as we tried to get to the shelter. My father fell on my brother, blown into the shelter as they were getting in. When we looked at the damaged caused afterwards, the house windows were blown out, many roof slates were on the floor. The shed roof had parted and had pieces of metal stuck in the remaining roof and side. The removed metal was put into my sack of
shrapnel. We had no mains water for some time, this had to be collected in buckets from an
emergency stand pipe. You started off with a full bucket of water, and had only half, and wet shoes when you reached the house. It took half a bucket to flush the toilet when the tank in the loft run dry. Many trips were made. The carnage to other houses was immense, four were demolished and a further six had to be pulled down. Two hundred and one houses had to be repaired. Later the houses that were left standing were made safe, but a lot of work had to be done to make these inhabitable. In the early stages, these were used as a play ground for most of us local kids. The whole thing to us, was very exciting. Not so good was that this was where my first cigarette was smoked, in one of those lofts. It made me very ill at the time, but this did not deter me from smoking. I have grown to regit this.
7th May 1945. Suddenly, peace came to battered Europe at 0241 hrs on this day. The German emissary General Alfred Jodl, signed the instrument of unconditional surrender. The dictator, The Fuehrer, had previously killed himself. He was his own last victim.
VE Day, Britons took to the streets to celebrate the victory. Large flags and bunting was displayed out of most windows. Masses of jubilant revellers were seen doing all sorts of things with and without the aid and influence of liquid refreshments. The darkness and privation of the past years were temporary forgotten.
Soon afterwards it was revelled that the coalition government was to resign and a general election was to be held. The first since 1935. After the 23 May 1945, the interim government that was formed, was again headed by Churchill, but this time was an all Tory one. When the results of the July voting were declared, it was a massive landslide victory for Clement Attlee and the Labour Party. For a nation, that in the main, revered Churchill as a war time leader, rejects him and the Tory Party in peacetime.
The Japanese were however still fighting on. The previous October, General Douglas Mac- Arthur had fulfilled his promise to return to the recaptured island of Lete. In the sea battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese fleet had been almost destroyed. This was not without the most serious loss to the US of a considerable amount of planes ships and men. The carrier Prince Town was one of these. The opposing airforce were converting their planes as human suicide bombs. Packed with contact impact bombs and the pilot crashing these on to American ships. The Japanese called this tactic a kamikaze, divine wind. In the battle for Okinawa in June, after twelve weeks of the bloodiest land and sea fighting of the war in the Pacific, the Japanese resistance came to an end with their commander committing hari kiri.
This land, now in American hands was only 300 miles south of the very heart of Japan. On the 14 August 1945, after the second of two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, did Emperor Hirohito's Japan surrender. It was not until midnight the following day, that this great news in Britain, was heard form a radio broadcast by Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister. A two day holiday was declared. Once again the flags were brought out on display. Crowds gathered, great jubilation was heard and seen over most of the country over the declared two day holiday. Children's celebrations, to mark that this time the world war was really over, were held with street parties. Ours was held on the middle green of Valence Avenue. What food and soft drink that could be bought was displayed and very gratefully eaten by all the kids in our street. I can not remember how many kids were ill after that party. But all that food in one place was a wonderment never
seen before in our short life times.
My large sack of shrapnel, collected over time, with pride, I used to keep in the garden shed. It disappeared. I strongly suspected my father got rid of it.
The causalities of war. A sobering thought was when the statistics were reported. Over 56 million people were dead, and the world had untold numbers of permanent injury casualties.
Lymington Road school. Mr May (Head). Miss May, his daughter (dark glasses). Mr Hughes, Maths (Did not like chewing gum in class). Mr Leason Woodwork, (chip). Mr Toms (Kie estas Esperanto?). All good teachers. I can see them all now as clear as day. Class sizes were about twenty eight. Girls separated in one half of the school from boys. Memories of the school linger. Running around the playing field many times, past the disused sand pit, large lake and hills. A delight of most school boys. Past Bartons Bakers in Kemp Road, with the smell of baking bread and cakes. Swimming was part of lessons even during winter. The class were marched to Valence Park open air swimming pool. Afterwards the queue at the attached buffet for a big mug of hot beverage and a thick slice of bread for one penny (old money.) Out of school. Selinas Lane, unadopted then. Just a dirt path and bushes. Scrumping at the large apple orchard along Eastern Avenue. Bike rides to Hainault Forest, up Hog Hill. What a big hill that was! How about Saturday morning pictures? Flash Gorden, Dale and the Ming. Roy Rogers and Trigger. The Masked Man and Tonto. Old Mother Rily and Kitty. L and Hardy. What was that song we all used to sing before the start of those pictures? All together. "We come along, on Saturday morning, greeting every body with a smile" ect ect. On the wireless, during and after the war, Workers Play Time. Dick Barton special agent. Tommy Handle, Mrs Mop, (Can I Do You Now Sir.) On Saturdays, In Town To Night. In 1950 our house hold were able to buy a television set. 大象传媒 1 was all you had then . Later I bought a converter and were able to see ITV. Now look what one can do with a television, satellite and the Internet. But TV programs are a disadvantage, most of these are either repeats, as well as all those old films I saw as a boy. For what are we paying the ever increasing costs for? As for phones. It is a wonderment to try to thing of what is coming next after all the big strides in electronics. But I digress from the subject. The swimming pool, and the band stand at Valence Park is now all grass. The sand pit, factories. Bartons Bakers, long gone. In its place are about twenty small units of car repair and small engineering firms. Ford, half has been knocked down and they only make car engines in Dagenham. Burgers, the paint firm, in the main knocked down. The latest name, Dupont. Other firms have now been built on the vacant ground. Last and not least, our school. Lymington Road. Most of the railings are in tact and the two gates, for boys and girls separate entry, where so many trod. The levelled ground is full of bushes now. The playing field is still in tact. The lands agent sends in a contractor to cut the grass when it gets very long.
With the turn of events written here, this I suppose is part of progress and modernisation. But should asset stripping and redundancy burden the many for the sake of the few?

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