大象传媒

I was 5 when war broke out on 3 Sept 1939. I heard the announcement on the radio that Sunday morning. My mother cried when she heard it - my youngest sister was born a week later.
Fladbury is a village in Worcestershire and at the outbreak of war and for its duration played a part in that war although in a quieter way than other places. For all that a whole load of activity was acted out there.
There was the secret base of the 大象传媒 at Wood Norton just along the Evesham Road. Not many people knew what was going on there but at the worst this ex royal hunting lodge could have taken over from Broadcasting House in London and indeed many hours of programmes were broadcast from its underground studios.
There was the air base over the hill at Tilesford/Throckmorton. The airforce personnel came down to the two local pubs (The Chequers and The Anchor). You knew when no one left the base for drink that the crews were off on a raid.
The Women's Land Army proved a popular presence in the area with quite a few local chaps geting married to them and in the opposite direction local girls got married to other servicemen in the area.
Somewhat more unusually there were Americans based mostly in tents on the golf course up at the crossroads and along the river. Even at my young age I felt sorry for the Yanks as they stood at the fence being stared at by the villagers and being asked "any gum chum?" I can't remember anyone local marrying a GI and going to America but a lot of girls from other parts did and my sister and I used to play "GI Brides". This meant packing our bags and getting up on the sofa with our dolls, the sofa being the boat to America. The Yanks took over the two petrol pumps at the village post office and the whole village reeked of petrol for which there were queues of waiting vehicles. In the field now used as the recreation ground hundreds of lorries were meticulously parked. The military police patrolled the village and a patrol consisted of two, usually black men who wore white helmets with red letters 'MP'. The white helmets were all that were visible over the top of the hedge as we sat in the house. One day everything was deadly quiet - all the lorries had gone as had the American soldiers. This was D Day. While they were in the village the Americans put on a concert in the church. The only item I remember was a large black soldier standing with his back to the altar and progressing down the church singing The Lords Prayer as he did so.
The Yanks left a sentry box, (like seen in POW films) just inside and to the left of the Blue Gate field which was immediatly over the railway bridge and running alongside the railway line. This sentry box was used again when later on the camp on the golf course was used to house German and Italian prisoners of war. These prisoners wore a uniform with a large ring on the back. They mostly did agricultural work.
Another uniformed group in the area was the wounded soldiers at Craycombe House which was used as a military hospital. Their uniform was a lightish blue - usually accompanied by plastered legs and crutches!
Other strangers to the village at this time were the evacuees, mostly from Birmingham. One day we went to school to find one of the two classrooms taken over by these children and their teachers. I don't think they stayed very long but while they did we learnt new games in the playgrouind. One or two older boys did not take to village life and ran away home.
While at school we had to run home to see how long it took us. If if was longer than a certain time then if there was an air raid we would have to run instead to the cellar of The Monastery, a large house opposite the church and just across from the school. Once when were out in our garden a German plane flew over so low we could see the pilot. My mother shouted to get in the house quick! At night we could hear the heavy drone of the bombers on their way to bomb Midland towns and after we could see the glow in the sky from the fires they left behind. We sat up while this went on with the baby sleeping in the pram. The old lady from across the road sat with us while her son was out being a Warden. My dad was in the Home Guard.
We were issued with gas masks and we had to carry these in a cardboard box slung over our shoulder with a piece of string. Babies were issued with large contraptions in which they were supposed to be shut. My sister screamed so much my mother said she would never use it.
Although my parents and us three children lived in a three bedroom council house with all but no bathroom and a toilet up the garden we were considered to have room for lodgers. I am not sure whether this was mandatory or whether we needed the money which I imagine we did. We had over the years an engineer and his wife from the 大象传媒, a chap who worked for the contractor laying the runways at the airbase and two Landgirls from London - Ethel and Maud. One of the first jobs the farmer gave them was hoeing, probably with a short hoe, so that at the end of the day they could hardly straighten up!
The villagers put on dances in the village hall on Saturday nights. As we children lay in bed we could hear the dance band playing. I always felt a bit left out............

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