´óÏó´«Ã½

In early 1943 my father and mother, namely Albert and Louisa Jones, myself Ann Jones, my sister Christine Jones, and brother George Jones, were living in Stonebridge Park, London NW10.
The bombing of London had resumed again. One vivid memory I have is of a land mine being dropped a few streets away which didn’t explode. We were all in bed when the police came and told us we had to get out of the house in a few minutes. Mother got us all up and grabbed our coats and shoes and a few immediate necessities and put them in a push chair. We all walked around to a friends’ house and told them what had happened. Without hesitation they immediately said we could spend the night with them. They were an elderly couple but typical of the wonderful spirit of Londoners at that time. They took the mattress off their bed for us three children, the two women slept on the bed base, and the two men in arm chairs.
However, we had just settled down when the police arrived again, and once more we had to evacuate the house. Off we set to walk about a quarter of a mile to the underground shelter in the recreation ground. There was absolutely nowhere else to go. The German bombers were out in force that night, and as we walked along incendiary bombs were dropping all around us.
Somehow, we all made it to the shelter, and there were about six hundred people all trying to find a place to sit down. There were a few wooden benches but they were already taken, so most people had to huddle together on the floor. There were just two Elsan toilets for the whole lot. The whole shelter absolutely stank. Unfortunately, the authorities dealing with this land mine were having quite a struggle dismantling it, so we were forced to spend another two nights in that dreadful place without a wash or change of clothes, but as usual, along with an odd grumble, there was a good sing song and people played cards or dominoes.
A big cheer went up when we were told we would be allowed home.

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