大象传媒

At the outbreak of WW2 my father was a milkman but also a Special Constable. Consequently on the day war was declared the police went to his depot and told him that for the duration of the war he would be a full-time policeman. At a stroke his wages were reduced by 50% which was a problem because in 1933 my parents had started to buy their own house with the help of a mortgage from the Lambeth Building Society. They helped by saying they would accept interest only for the duration of the war but my mother said it was not unknown for her to have just 6d in her purse to provide our family with a meal on Wednesday (the day the police were paid). Dad spent all the war stationed at Hendon, when necessary setting of Moaning Minnie (the air raid siren) at the police box on Kingsbury Green.

I was just coming up to my second birthday when war was declared. My mother was not prepared to use the brick-built shelters which were provided in our road and fought hard to get a Morrison shelter for us, shaming the official in the town hall to let us have one with the question 鈥淲ould you let your child use the street shelters which stink?鈥� She was successful and my first memories are of being put to bed in the shelter as a matter of course, not just when the siren went. I well remember one occasion when the guns were particularly noisy and I woke up. She quietened me by telling me daddy was home so everything was all right. I was of an age when if mummy and daddy were around, then everything in my world was fine but in hindsight I can see that her comments were also an expression of her relief that her husband had returned home in one piece. The brick shelters caused a tragedy to one of my mother鈥檚 friends. Her little boy was only three years old. He was in their street when a small friend called out to him from the other side of the road. He ran across from behind the shelter right into the path of the local milkman鈥檚 horse and cart and was killed.

Although not in Central London, we lived close to RAF Hendon so did have some close encounters with bombs. One fell on the Close leading from our road, killing a number of people. The gardens of their houses ran along the back of ours so for the rest of the war dad and a couple of our neighbours (also policemen) used these gardens as allotments. Our lawn with the clock golf course had already been dug up at the outbreak.

When VE Day came my mother and I went shopping and on our return I was amazed to see a huge Union Jack flying from my grandmother鈥檚 window (she lived upstairs in our house). She said she had been using it as a laundry bag but felt flying the flag was more important! That night I was already in bed when my Gran came and took me upstairs because all the searchlights at Hendon were being used as a celebration. We had a children鈥檚 party in the local church hall. This was supposed to be fancy dress. I had earlier been a bridesmaid to my uncle and we still had the dress so I squeezed into it (having grown somewhat as children do) and actually won third prize.

Nothing really startling happened to me in the war but I hope it will be of interest to read about a very ordinary little girl who has no memories prior to WW2.

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