大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People鈥檚 War site by CSV Storygatherer Ian Hollins on behalf of Joan Carver. The story has been added to the site with her permission. And Joan Carver fully understands the terms and conditions of the site.
I think it was about 1943 when we all returned to Southampton and Dad went back to work in the docks. We must have stayed with big Nan for w while until we found a house (No. 36 Granby Grove, Highfield). I remember the day we moved in. Mum and I did some shopping in Portswood where we bought some 鈥楽pam鈥� to make some sandwiches for our lunch. When we arrived home we didn鈥檛 have the 鈥楽pam鈥�, it must have fallen off Mums鈥� shopping basket. Mum was very annoyed as she used 16 precious points on that 鈥楽pam鈥�. We were only allowed 16 points every 4 weeks so someone had a lucky find. By this time I was about 7 or 8 years old and had started Portswood Junior School. I had two friends who lived nearby whose names were Sheila morrish and Rosina Baggent (affectionately known as 鈥楶opsy). I cannot remember a lot about school except that we used to practice Scottish country dancing every week. I enjoyed that very much. We used to walk home through the local recreation ground where all of the chains and other metal fittings had been removed from the swings and roundabouts for use in the war effort. The same was true of railings, fences and gates outside public places and peoples homes. A small valley ran through the backs of our gardens, it was a wonderful place to play. There was a big hole in ground that had probably been caused by a shell during the 鈥楤litz鈥� of 1940. Dad said it wasn鈥檛 a bomb as the houses would have been damaged or destroyed. We used the hole to make a 鈥榙en鈥� and covered the top with branches to make a roof. If the siren sounded we either had to race home or get into the nearest shelter, our 鈥榙en鈥� would not have stood up to Hitlers raids. Everyone was so friendly then. It was a case of 鈥渨e are all in this war together so let鈥檚 make the best of it鈥�.
One Saturday morning I was in Portswood shopping with little Nan when, all of a sudden, the siren went. Straight away we heard the German bomber droning towards us. We had no time to reach the shelter so we, along with everyone else, laid face down flat on the pavement and hoped for the best. I thought the planes would never stop. Eventually we arrived home to find Mum worrying about us. Sometimes in the summer we would go to the sports centre. It was lovely there. It had a big boating lake where you could hire paddle boats, each one bearing a large number on the side. When your time was up a man would call out your number through a megaphone. On afternoon we had an air raid whilst we were there and were forced to take shelter. Fortunately it did not last very long as it was a very hot afternoon and the shelter was packed with people making it very uncomfortable. When we arrived home Nan discovered that a shell had penetrated the shed roof and had come out of the side right near Granddads workbench. If he had been standing there at the time he would have been killed. It was about 3 foot long with a point at one end. I don鈥檛 know what became of it but they kept it in the shed for many years. It was quite hazardous walking the streets at night during the blackout and you had to be careful not to get caught using a torch. One evening Nan and Granddad were walking arm in arm when they both found themselves face down on the road. They had completely forgotten about the pipe that ran along the gutter from the water hydrant. It was about 8 inches in diameter and they had both fallen over it. Fortunately they were not badly hurt, just bruised knees and noses. We also had to be sure that our own blackout curtain was secure. If there was even the smallest chink of light showing the air raid warden would knock on your door and tell you to fix it. You could be fined if you were a persistent offender. On one occasion we were going out for the day and Nan was going to visit her friend. On the way home we met Nan on the same bus and as it made its way up the hill Nan was complaining about how many people had a light showing. As we neared our house we could see Nans鈥� room ablaze with light and no curtains drawn at all. Apparently it had been such a dark and miserable day that she had put the light on to have her lunch and had forgotten to turn it off. The warden had tried several times to report it to no avail as we were all out. I don鈥檛 know if she was fined but I do know that Dad never let her forget it for years after.
I shall never forget the lead up to 鈥楧 Day鈥� as on one evening we drew our curtains as usual and went to bed with everything in the street looking quite normal. When we woke the next morning the street was full of American tanks and army vehicles lined both sides of the street. The same was true of all of the surrounding streets. We knew then that something big was about to happen. As far as I can remember this was about 2 weeks before 鈥楧 Day鈥�. I can remember the excitement of it all; Mum along with most of the other housewives gave up our bacon ration to cook for the soldiers. We became very friendly with the ones outside our house and they used to come in for baths etc. They were very grateful and used to give me chewing gum and chocolate powder. They were very young, possibly late teens and early twenties, and being such a long way from home they were really scared.
On the morning of June 6th 1944 we woke to find them gone, there was no chance to say goodbye, I was very upset. The soldiers themselves did not know what was happening, it was all top secret, which is why it was such a success. We often wondered how they got on and if they all survived. We know that some did because years later Mum met our old neighbour and she said that sometime after the war a parcel had arrived for us but no one knew where we lived so we could not be contacted. Mum went to the main Post Office in an attempt to find it but was told that there was no trace of a parcel. I often wonder who had taken it. It was strange to see all the empty army camps that were set up on the common prior to 鈥楧 Day鈥�, deserted now. I believe some of the 鈥楴issen鈥� huts were used to house P. o W鈥檚. I sometimes wonder what happened to my collection of shrapnel that I used to take to school and compare it other collections to see who had the best pieces. Mum was always knitting and she used to knit thick socks to send out to the troops. When she had made enough she would parcel them up and send them to the Red Cross. Soon after 鈥楧 Day鈥� I was told that we would be moving house again as Mum was expecting a baby in August and wouldn鈥檛 be enough room for all of us in the house. I was not very happy as I did not want to leave my friends.
My sister Mary was born on August 18th 1944 at around 5:30pm, Dad and I had finished our tea and I went out into the garden to play. I knew that I was soon to have a brother or sister as Mum was in the front room and the midwife had been coming and gong all afternoon. Just after 5:30 Dad called me into the kitchen to tell me that I had a sister and that I was allowed to go into the house to see her. After all of the excitement of the new arrival was over things began to settle down into a routine. As Mums鈥� time was taken up with looking after Mary I had to take on some the chores. I always had to wash up before going out to play and I had to do some of the shopping which was a daily activity as there were no domestic fridges everything was bought fresh. By this time we had hardly any air raids but we were becoming increasingly worried about the threat of 鈥榙oodle-bugs鈥� which were self propelled bombs. You could hear them flying overhead and when the engine died they would fall to earth and explode. Lots of people were killed in this way. We were quite lucky in Southampton but I believe that London suffered badly. The sirens rarely sounded at night so we were able to stay in our beds at night. Rationing still had a tight grip on the way that we lived and if word got out that a certain shop had stock of something special long queues would form outside it. I can remember joining a long queue for some bananas; I had forgotten what they tasted like as I had not eaten one for 5 years.
To round up my memories of the war I will always remember the announcement on the radio on the May 8th 1945. I remember also going to the haberdashery shop to buy some red, white and blue ribbon and some Union Jack flags. I still wonder to this day how they had that sort of thing in stock on the day that peace was declared.
In the evening we walked as a family (including Mary in her pram) to the common. It was a lovely atmosphere as everyone else was walking too. There was no traffic to worry about as the few people that had cars were saving their precious petrol for more important journeys. When we arrived on the common there was an enormous bonfire. People were singing and dancing, so relieved that after 6 years of war we were at last free. Free from the fear of being bombed out of our homes or being invaded. We could at last go to bed at night knowing for sure that we would not be disturbed.

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