大象传媒

I remember being allowed to take navy blue sock I was knitting to the door of the shelter where we had most of our lessons, as I couldn鈥檛 see it properly in the poor electric light, but only on condition that I saw a doodlebug I was to come straight back in鈥�

I felt butterflies in my stomach when I was woken by the air-raid sirens and remember being wrapped in an eiderdown and carried down to the Anderson shelter at the bottom at the garden鈥�

As winter came on and the shelter became more and more uncomfortable, I recall watching my father dismantle the shelter and re-erect it in the shed just outside the back door 鈥� packed around, as I recall, with 1000 bricks 鈥� so that we could sleep in relative comfort and safety. I learnt to sleep through night after night of air raids, first during the blitz, then through the doodlebugs and rockets but I recall seeing one time the whole sky to the north glowing red as Woolwich Arsenal was bombed and asking my mother if all of London was on fire.

One memory is of our cat that we would always welcome back (unscathed) as it would never stay in the shelter. His name was Ribberntrop, one of a litter born the day after the war was declared to a stray cat my mother had been feeding. The others were called Hitler, Goering and Goebbels! We managed to find homes for all the others except Hitler, who had to be put down. I don鈥檛 suppose his name did much for him.

Collecting baskets of shrapnel and competing with friends to see who had the most鈥�

Finding our dining room ceiling down one morning and or china lampshade smashed, as my mother said 鈥渢o smithereens鈥� 鈥� the first time I heard that word鈥�

Watching my sister, by then 16, up on the roof helping my father to replace as many tiles as possible鈥�

One time my mother returned home from shopping and she had been followed by a doodlebug as she walked from Welling to Bexleyheath and when she had turned round to try and escape it, it promptly turned round too!鈥�

My father told me a story of how he had dug out an American soldier from a bombed house where he has been billeted, only to find him laughing because he said he鈥檇 been in the bathroom and pulled the chain and the house fell down!鈥�

As the war in Europe came to an end I remember wearing red, white and blue ribbons in our hair鈥�

One time I was at a Salvation Army children鈥檚 concert which was interrupted when a man came on to the stage and announced that the war was over鈥�

Going up to London with my family that night to watch the fireworks from Westminster Bridge although my mother had flu at the time鈥�

With all these memories I distinctly remember the feeling of huge excitement and relief that it was all over and we could begin to lead a normal childhood once more.

This story is submitted to the People's War Website by Philip Moore on behalf of Dawn Catten, who fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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