大象传媒

I was thirteen and half when the war began in 1939. I lived on a farm in Thorrington and was still going to school. One of my earliest memories of the war was having the blackout curtain fitted. I can also remember the searchlights crossing the sky. We used to sleep under the table during air-raid and we would often wake up to find incendiary bombs laying out on the fields. The first winter of the war was very cold and there was heavy snow. I can remember playing in the snow and watching an attack on Halesworth railway station. The station master was killed. We took cover because of the low flying aircraft. I used to milk the cows in the morning and then I had to deliver the milk to Saxmundham. Sometimes I would get lifts with the Land Army. I can remember a German parachutist landing in Saxmundham, he was soon surrounded by members of the public and the police. On the 6th June 1944 I was delivering milk in Saxmundham again and I saw the aircraft massing overhead for the invasion of Europe. I also used to go to the army dances in the local area. During the winter evenings my mother allowed the soldiers to exchange eggs for tins of bacon. They would also sometimes stay for a game of cards. Later on in the war I can remember the Doodlebugs; when the engines went off we were able to judge how long it would take for it to explode; usually it would be somewhere near the Saxmundham railway line. After the war I took over the Darsham Fox and won Pub of the Year. I felt that the war brought the best out of people and people were far more content with life.

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