大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Elizabeth Perez of Stockport Libraries on behalf of Edna Stafford and has been added to the site with her husband Bill Stafford's permission. Bill Stafford fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

"When war broke out on the 3rd September 1939 we lived in Rhodesia Road Stockwell. I was then a young teenager and working at my first job in the Advertising Dept. of Head Office of W.H.Smith & Son, - Strand House, off Kingsway. We were often bombed and it was a ritual on arriving home from work to change into "night gear" of trousers, jumpers etc. as it was assumed that there would be very little sleep. A mile away on Clapham Common there were 4 anti-aircraft guns, and when they fired the ground shook. We watched many "dog fights" taking place over London, as with our house being three storeys with an attic at the top, it was a good place to look at the air-battles. My elder brother, who some months later worked away in the building trade, going to Scotland and Ireland, and my younger brother, who also went into the building trade from school, stayed at home until they both were called into the Army.

Our mother did not feel happy to be so close to London and, as far as I recall, plans were made to live in North Cheam. By this time, our father was in the Army as he was called up as he was on the Reserve from the First World War. My mother's fears were realised when in March 1944 a 1000 lb. Bomb landed practically on our house. Many of our former neighbours and friends were killed. Often delayed action bombs were dropped and on one occasion I remember lying fully dressed under the bedclothes hearing and feeling the bombs dropping and when the "All Clear" sounded, finding the doors blown off, windows out and the smell of cordite which filled the air. Often we crouched by the side of buildings. After the raids people of course would be out seeing what damage had been done and it was often amazing the lucky escapes that some people had - parts of houses could have crumbled and yet a person could be heard calling and after digging and pulling away the bricks, he or she would walk away without any serious injury; others were not so fortunate.

Our father was a military man. In the First World War he was awarded the Military Medal. He was in the Heavy Artillery and served at Ypres and on the Somme in France. He had also spent some time in the Merchant Navy and overall had led a very interesting life and I liked hearing him tell his tales. Between 1939 and 1948 he was stationed at various places in England and for most of his Army life, in that period of time, he was in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers. He was stationed at Old Dalby, Kettering and Melton Mowbray and on one of my home leaves I spent a weekend with him when he was at Melton Mowbray.

My elder brother, Norman, was originally drafted into a Regiment in Scotland as he was then in Scotland when he was called up. However, later he was drafted into the Air Formation Signal Corp and served in Europe until he was demobbed. We met up in Germany in the early summer of 1946 when he was able to "give me away" upon getting married in June 1946. But more about that later on. My younger brother Geoff was drafted into the Royal Army Ordinance Corp in January 1945 and in early 1946 was posted to South East Asia Command (known as SEAC) and spent some months in Singapore, and other places in India and the Far East. We were therefore, all in the Forces and of course our mother waited eagerly for our various letters so that she would know, as far as could be allowed, where we were. Geoff was demobbed in 1947."

Sadly Edna Stafford passed away on 22 February 2004. Her husband, Bill, has requested that no further messages are left in response to her stories.

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