大象传媒

This story was shared with a 大象传媒 Action Desk volunteer from 大象传媒Essex.

I was brought up in Poplar, London E14, which was then on top of the Docks. One day in September 1940 my mother took me, a baby of a couple of months in my pram, to do some shopping in Crisp Street Market. While we were there an air raid started. At the time we were passing a Butcher鈥檚 shop, and one of the staff ran out saying 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be out there with that baby Missus, come in here.鈥� He took me out of my pram and wrapped me in their clean overalls, hurrying my mother and me into the large meat freezer!

After the raid was over we carried on shopping and then made our way home. Home was (I believe) in a 3 or 2 story block of flats called Dolphin House, Poplar High Street. When my we got there the tenants and caretaker were all outside of the flats. My mother asked the caretaker what was wrong. She was told that a large bomb had been dropped by the Docks, and the blast had caused the flats to move from their foundations and nobody was to go into their flats until everything had been checked which could taken hours or days. My mother explained she had to go up to get clothes and nappies etc for me and she was eventually able to convince the caretaker to let her go up with him. He said they must run up, and keep on the move all the time, which they did. My mother put everything into my Moses basket, running all the time. On the way out she remembered my father鈥檚 breeding canaries, saying 鈥淚 must go back for the canaries鈥�. The caretaker said they would have to take a chance on staying there as he was not going back and neither was my mother!

After that we had to go into lodgings with friends for a while and then a friend of my father鈥檚 (a Policeman) found a house in the top end of St Leonards Road, which was even closer to the Docks than we had been before!!

Shortly after my father went into the Eighth Army and my mother was left alone, with by now, two babies, but she had a very good neighbour.

That was just one of many experiences during the 1940s that my mother passed on to me.

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