大象传媒

My life began in April 1940, and my memories seem to be from about 1943. My Mother and Father met and got married fairly quickly, probably because of his "call-up" which I think was after my birth. My first memories of Dad are of stories told by my Mum and receiving letters and pictures he had drawn, in the form of Air Graphs.
Dad was an SAC in the Air Force, an Aircraft Mechanic and worked (I believe) on Hurricanes and was on greeting terms with Sir Douglas Bader.
We lived in East Anglia for a while until Dad was posted to Burma and then Mum and I moved back to Dad's home village in Surrey. We lodged for a while with family and then at another house in Headley. They had a tabletop (Anderson) shelter with a mattress, which we children were bundled into when we heard the air-raid warning siren. I remember sneaking outside with the others once to stand behind our Mothers and listening to a Doodlebug going overhead. A sound you never forget! Because of the south London bombing, my Mother took us to her parents who lived just outside Durham City. My Northern Grandfather was a Coal Miner and lived in a Colliery house with no bathroom and an outside toilet and every day Gran would put the tin bath in the living room in front of the fire and fill it from huge kettles heated on the black range. Grandpa would come straight in from the Mine, his face completely black, stip off and get in the bath. Gran would take his clothes outside to shake them and then scrub his back. The whole area smelt of coal and smoke but they had a lovely big strawberry patch which I was allowed to raid. I started attending a School in Durham and had easily adopted the local accent much to the amusement of family in Surrey when we returned there, but I couldnt attend the local School straight away as the starting age was older.
Rationing must have been very difficult to cope with but didnt affect my young mind very much. I was told I could have a 5th birthday tea and invite a couple of friends. In fact I invited the whole School (and their Brothers and Sisters)and I think they all turned up. Luckily the School was very small, just 2 classrooms. One of the local "big houses" was occupied by the Canadian Air Force. They were very popular with the local girls and also with the School children as they sent us a very large quantiy of Cholocate powder which we took home in glass jars brought from home.
My Father suffered a lot from malaria while he was overseas and spent quite a time in the field hospitals but he was still there at Christmas 1943. I have the Menu for his Christmas Dinner which was signed on the back by about a dozen of his collegues. Together with all his Airgraphs sent to my Mother and I, I also have a copy of a letter he wrote while in hospital. He describes the terrible conditions in great detail - the weather, the hospital itself which seems to have been just poles with a canvas roof, and the chickens roaming around the beds.
My Father's homecoming was very exciting especially as he had promised me lots of presents. We were complete strangers but got over that very quickly. It must have been quite a shock for him to have left me as a baby and then to find I was a grown up 5 year old. I recall that he was quick to give me a swipe for ferreting around in his kitbag for my presents while he was canoodling with my Mother.
My Mother had the radio on a lot. This was powered by huge glass batteries which we took periodically to be recharged. My interest in music must stem from hearing a lot of Bing Crosby, etc, and I still get very emotional when I hear the RAF Marchpast

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