大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Anastasia Travers from CSV Action Desk on behalf of Harry Hands and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr. Hands fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

There is a popular song from those years, called 鈥淲hen the lights go on again鈥� and I wonder what today鈥檚 generation think when they hear it. It reminds me of the blackout, (it was done) so planes sent to bomb us would have no navigational help from the ground. Just imagine, no street lights; all buildings in complete darkness, all transport with only faint light. Moonlight really meant something then.

The air raids were the closest I came to danger. The wail of the air raid warning, people making their way for shelters or safe parts of the house 鈥渦nder stairs,鈥� the drone of heavy bombers; our search lights and ack ack guns, the eventual screaming sound of a bomb falling and sounds of explosions. One German aircraft early in the war came over in broad daylight and machine gunned people in the street. If there were any casualties it wasn't made general knowledge so as not to affect our morale.

I was never frightened, I had listened to Mr. Churchill鈥檚 speeches and had tied an old carving knife to a broomstick and was prepared; as he had urged us in the event of invasion and death to take one with you. The propaganda on poster radio and films was convincing, and listening to Lord Hawhaw鈥檚 traitorous voice telling us we were finished, made us even more determined. How glad I was when he was eventually caught tried and hung for treason.

There were treats to make up for the lack of sweets and toys. We used to eat raw Swedes and carrots instead a half penny would buy enough for two days. Another treat was collecting shrapnel, bits of anti-aircraft shells or a bit of a plane if you were very lucky, this was always after a heavy rain when you could hear the shrapnel raining down on us. Another treat was to wait on one of our main roads till an American army convoy came by carrying either troops or munitions on the build up to the D-Day landings. We would wave and give the victory salute and in return the GI鈥檚 would throw us gum, sweets, cigarettes and the comic section from their Sunday papers with 鈥淒ick Tracy鈥� and 鈥淥rphan Annie鈥� - just two (name) of the cartoons - many of which I remember.

During heavy bombing our water supply would be damaged and you could only drink the tap water after it had been boiled so on a hot day after waiting for what seemed to be forever you had your long drink of cold water.. lovely. No fridges then, and pop was for special occasions. Every grown up seemed to have a part to play, those that weren鈥檛 in the forces that is, was proudly known as the home front part of what was the now famous Dad鈥檚 Army or Home Guard (the correct name) there was the 鈥淎FS鈥� auxiliary fire service, 鈥楩ire Watchers鈥� with buckets of sand and a stirrup pump (water pump), ambulance drivers, air radio wardens; but in the midlands lots of people were engaged in the war effort making munitions. Luxury items were short and I remember a sideline for munitions workers were(making) cigarette lighters, some made from shell casings and sold on a sort of black market or another term under the counter. A joke I remember from the time went like this;

Ministry official to workman: How many this week?

Workman: Oh About twenty

Ministry Official: About 20, that鈥檚 unbelievable.
20 Fighter aircraft??

Workman: Blimey no, I thought you meant lighters!

The radio and films played a major part in keeping up morale, the above joke I heard on a programme called 鈥淲orker鈥檚 Playtime,鈥� it was popular artists of the day (who) appeared on this radio programme at various large factories up and down the country. It was broadcast during their dinner break and the exact location was never divulged for security reasons. It was always somewhere in the north of England or a factory somewhere in the southeast.

Children鈥檚 hour was for us. The presenters were all like uncles and aunts 鈥� my favourite was uncle Mac with his hello children everywhere. The pictures were very popular and American people like George Formby, Will Hay, Laurel & Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Tarzan the Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, I could go on enjoying naming them. The news reels with pictures of the battles in the desert on the seas. The films always portrayed us with stiff upper lips. Making the best of whatever they had to face. I wasn鈥檛 gong to let the side down. I did however, have some sleepless nights wondering how I would hold out I was caught by the 鈥淕estapo鈥� Hitler鈥檚 Secret Police. It they were anything like they were portrayed in films.

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