大象传媒

I was born in London (Wandsworth) in September 1938.and was 1 year old when the war started.

At age 3 - my earliest memory was of being lifted out of bed in the middle of the night and taken to a shelter in the garden. There were four steps down into the shelter so that, when it rained, water would run down the steps and the earth 鈥渇loor鈥� would become mud. It was very cold and damp, particularly in winter. There were gates between each garden and our next-door neighbours would join us in our shelter. Between air raids someone would volunteer to run into the house to make tea.

When my Father came home on leave he reinforced the cellar in the Victorian house where we lived and we then slept there for the remainder of the war, which meant my sleep was not so disturbed.

My Mother gave many parties. My brother and I would lie in bed in the cellar and listened to the music. A friend of my Aunt had been traumatised by being buried when a bomb which dropped on the under-ground, so when the air-raid siren sounded she would join us in the cellar.

We lived very near Clapham Junction Station, which was a prime target for the German bombers, and the surrounding area took the brunt of the bombs which missed the station. I understand that one bomb actually dropped on the Station, but it did not explode.

When the doodlebugs started, we would count the seconds from when the engine cut out (very good practice in counting for a 6 year old)! My brother (then age 8) and I would walk round the local streets to see which houses had been hit during the night and we would watch wardens, police, firemen clearing debris and digging people out of the bombed houses.

I remember our house 鈥渂eing lifted up鈥� and furniture being moved by bomb blasts; ceilings coming down; windows being blown in 鈥� glass everywhere. I remember seeing the half destroyed houses, like looking inside each room of a three-story doll鈥檚 house; furniture was still arranged on each floor; every room had different wallpaper and fireplaces hung out of walls. I would wonder where the people had gone. There was a permanent film of dust in the air and the smell of plaster and decay.

At age 6 陆 - 1945 I was told the war had ended and there would be Peace. I had lived all my life with war so I wasn鈥檛 sure what 鈥減eace鈥� was. No one actually explained so I was very frightened, and I think I am still waiting for 鈥減eace鈥� to happen. However, it didn鈥檛 stop me enjoying the street party 鈥� the bonfire, the music, the dancing, neighbours cooking chips for the kids 鈥� and the sweets we were given.

NB My Uncle was in the Air Force during the war. He wrote his memoirs with photos, of which the family have copies. Unfortunately he died last year at age 88, but I am glad that he wrote down his experiences for our future generations.

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