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Below is a memoir written by Ken Paine typed by Fiona McNeill of the Folkestone Heritage team and added to the site with Mr Paine's permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

MY MEMORIES OF FOLKESTONE IN WARTIME

I was born in Folkestone and when the War began in 1939 I was working in our family hairdressing business. Although only fifteen I had trained as a musician from the age of eleven and was playing [drums] during the evenings at Bobbys (now Debenhams) Restaurant.

The Restaurant was always full for dancing with the Army and the Air Force - mostly officers. Due to the evacuation of the town which had been encouraged by the authorities, the population was down to around 5,000. The businessses therefore welcomed the service men and women with open arms.

Most of the hotels had been taken over by the military. The Army Pay Corps occupied the Metropole Hotel, the Wampach Hotel The Green Howards and the Royal Pavilion Hotel housed the WRENS. It is strange now to visualise all the barbed wire and sentry boxes in Castle Hill Avenue and along the Leas and the seafront.

There was gunsites on the Leas and around the outskirts of the town. We were fortunate to be awarded the contract for cutting the hair of the soldiers manning the sites. Two days a week an army vehicle came for me and I was taken to one site after another. Some were only manned by five men, but others on the bigger gun emplacements had fifteen to twenty personel. Of course, there were frequently air raid warnings while I was working and then I lost all my clients! The firing began and I had to take refuge in a nissen hut until the all-clear.

Early in the War, my day job (hairdressing) was in Sandgate Road, adjoining the Leas. When the warning sounded all the shops closed, the buses stopped and there was scarcely anybody on the street. As soon as the salon closed we dashed to the Leas where we could look across the Channel to the cliffs of France. We watched the dog fights over the sea, and even saw the bombing of our convoys as they sailed up the Channel towards Dover.

Later in the War the Canadians and Americans were stationed on the golf course which was only three hundred yards from our other salon. The boys came in such numbers that when the waiting chairs were full they sat on the floor waiting their turn. Once again they only signed a sheet and we collected payment of 10d (4p) per haircut monthly. Before we became wise we found when we checked that we had the signatures of Donald Duck, Freeman, Hardy and Willis, and a selection of other celebrities. We later made them sign before we cut their hair! They were a good cowd of lads and we even had letter from some when they eventually went home.

On leaving Bobbys I played in the Odeon Restaurant for dancing six nights a week. As a member of staff I had the privivlege of passing into the cinema free. On several afternoons I tried to see 'Gone With the Wind' but each day an air raid or shell warning sounded and everyone had to go to the basement. I never saw the complete film until it was on television!

One advantage of working in restaurants was the choice of a free meal during the evening. Food at home was strictly rationed but a coupon free meal in Bobbys offered a very good choice. This is an actual menu of Bobbys for 5th February 1941 -

GRAPE FRUIT or CREME PORTUGAISE or POTAGE SANTE

GRILLED SALMON STEAK or OMELETTE PAYSANNE or STEAK AND KIDNEY PIE or IRISH STEW or COLD HAM/TONGUE AND SALAD

POTATOES, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, AND SAVOY CABBAGE

STEWED PEARS AND CUSTARD or SEMOLINA PUDDING or JELLIES AND TRIFLES

THE THREE COURSE MEAL COST 2/(10p)

A sad part of the War for our family came at 2:00am on May 29th 1941. One of our salons was in Cheriton Road backing on to Morehall Avenue. We lived in Cheriton Road, a couple of hundred yards from the salon. My Mother's sister and her husband, Winifred and James Sinstadt, lived in Morehall Avenue. Their house was hit by a parachute mine. They were killed, as were the Mayor and Mayoress, Mr and Mrs Gurr, who lived nearby. (An account of this can be read in 'Target Folkestone'by Roy Humphreys Meresborough Books 1990 P91.)

At the same time the back part of our salon was demolished and our house lost its front door and all the windows. It was indeed a night to remember.

Looking back we did not appear to sleep very much in those days. All the men in a street took their turn at fire watching from 10 pm. until 6 am, and many had to do the same duty at their workplace. All male staff at Bobbys (including the orchestra) had to take their turn. This entailed staying alert in the store until midnight. The official Fire Watcher, Mr Ford, was in his hut on the flat roof of the store. If there were no alarms by midnight we would go to the basement and sleep on campbeds. For our 'safety' we slept behind huge rolls of carpet. When a siren sounded we had to run up three flights of stairs and then up the outside iron staircase to the roof. There we stayed until the All Clear - usually some hours later.

I played in the orchestra at the Leas Cliff Hall for some time. The Hall is built into the side of the cliff. There are five floors but the Ballroom had large glass windows all round providing sea views. As the drummer I sat at the back of the orchestra with the windows immediately behind me. Although all the large glass light shades had been exchanged for ornate vellum for the safety of the dancers, the huge windows had evidently been overlooked! I believe they did have some sticky tape on them, but fortuantely the worst never happened.

After about a year at the Leas Cliff Hall I went North and joined a theatre touring orchestra. We travelled much of the country before joining E.N.S.A. As an 'A' Company we played factories, aerodromes, barracks and theatres. We even came to the Pleasure Gardens in Folkestone enabling me to sleep at home for a week.

It was a most enjoyable occupation, but then I was called up for Army service. After the usual six weeks training I spent much of the remainder of the War organising concerts and dances in the Officers Mess. I even had sideline cutting hair at a 'bob a nob'. That is about the extent of my Wartime memories.

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