大象传媒

I was born in Camberwell, South London and lived there until I
married in 1961. My father died of rheumatic fever when I was one
year and my mother remained a widow until her death in 1978. She had
been forced, after my father's passing, to move into less expensive
accommodation with her spinster sister to Peabody Buildings at
Camberwell Green where we lived from there on until I mamed.
Now for a few of many wartime memories that have remained with me
since the last war.

1. In September 1939, at the age of 7 with a declared asthmatic
condition, I was evacuated with my school to a village, named
Kennington nearto Ashford in Kent. Although the wife of the family
where I was assigned was kind and looked after me I became "very"
unhappy and although my mother visited me by an East Kent Coach
service about once a month in December she decided, just prior to
Xmas, she take me back home even though The Headmistress of the
Camberwell School in Kent advised her that there would not be any
schools open for me in Camberwell.
This proved to be correct and until I was about 8/9 I had no education
as such. In fact it was then that two local church schools to where I
went later were both then bombed...I failed the 11+, but, in 1943 as a
pupil at Camberwell Greencoat School (my 4th school) the headmaster
told my mother that a Central School, Archbishop Temple's at Lambeth Palace Gardens, had decided to return from the West Country
as the main air raids in London had ceased...as a Church School they
were looking for young possibly suitable boys to re-open Archbishop
Temples in Lambeth. I was "very lucky" to be offered a place and
stayed there until I was 16.1 mention this as it gave me the much
needed opportunity to enhance my 'upto then poor education'!
Now, to other meaningful wartime experiences....

2. During 1941/2 the German air raids became continuous. Always at
night and regularly lasting from about 6pm through to 7am the next
day.
My mother, who was a leather handbag maker, had always been forced
to work as her Widow's Pension, following my father's death in 1933
had left her with only 拢2.50 a week until I was 16 and started work.
I mention this as the vast majority of women and children plus oldfolk
always went down into the underground shelters that had been built in
(he squares at Peabody's between the 6 storey blocks of flats.
At first my mother, aunt and I went down to these, but after a few
nights my mother decided to sleep in our beds in our flat on the 4th
floor of our block. The reason being that the adults seemed to chat
away and "sing wartime songs"such as 'Run rabbit, run' and many
others to while away the long, long hours as most did not work as their
husbands were either in the Services or Fire Wardens/Fighters and they
had survived on such income.
My aunt remained in the shelters during the raids but my mother and I
"very quickly" slept through them excepting really heavy bombing.
Now, one night we were kept awake due to the dropping of
'incendary' bombs (hat totally destroyed the top floor of the opposite
block to ours.

After my mother and aunt went to work, I decided to play in sitting
room with my small clock-work toytrain on (he linoleum floor that
many similar not-so wealthy people had in those days as carpeting was
quite expensive I subsequently learned.
Having witnessed a whole night of terrific fires I decided to light some
matches dropping them, as flares/bombs, over my running train. After
sometime I became bored and opening the front door I left the flat and
as (here was a large window which opened the view of the opposite
block with firmen and workers still cleaning the smouldering furniture
and immense amount of wreckage in the building opposite and below
in the square, which I started to watch.
Suddenly, and most fortunately for me, a neighbour on our landing
happened to open her door and cried out to me saying "Derek, there's
smoke coming from your flat!" We both rushed in and very quickly
threw buckets of water over my mother's settee where the hesian
below had started to burn/smoulder from a lighted match that I had
dropped on my trainset. A childlike imitation of the real thing! My
mother quickly forgave me when she returned home that
night....thankfully.
3. As young boys, after a night's raid, we would scour the local
area/streets for parts of metal/shrapnel that we could either keep. or
barter amongst ourselves. Once, I well recall a German plane/fighter
which strafed Church St. a very busy road one day in daylight!
Finally,
4. As an asthmatic, I suffered very severely at times with my breathing
and if it was in the Summertime I would often put my head out of my
bedroom window to gulp any possible breeze as we were 4 floors up.
On several occasions I would be likely to see a "Doodle-bug" (VI)
pass in the night sky with it's flaming rear exhaust most times when it
might then extinguish and then knowing that shortly a bombing sound
would be heard.
Some 6 years ago, I visited Ypres on the "11th November, 1998 at
1 lam "for the the 80th anniversary of the ending of me First World
War. The reason being that I found out from writing to The Canadian
Documation Centre in Ottawa that my Mother's older brother's name
was shown on a numbered panel on The Menin Gate...he had joined the
Canadian Black Watch in Canada, to where he had emigrated to start
a more progressive life from being one of a large family in Islington,
London. A rather poignant story and one that I should made with my
mother years before, but at that time land my wife were starting a
family and my mother had been suffering from very bad arthritis for
25+years.
My dear mother had often referred to her brother, 'Bob Smith' and it
was so fortuitous that she had kept a medal that was sent to my
maternal grandmother that enabled me to trace his actual placement as
a Private from his Army No as he was in the 2nd battle of Ypres and
my mother had said to me as a young boy that he was just one of the
many, many UNKNOWN SOLDIERS that fought for Great Britain as
member of a Dominion of the Empire!
On that journey I also visited a place nearto St. Omer where the Nazis
built a vast assembly plant for the Flying Bombs (VI). Built into chalk
cliffs by using forced Russian prisoners-of-war in me last War...The
actual place/nearest village Le/La Coupole ???
I hope that some of these memories may be worthwhile retaining

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