大象传媒

After my first summer holiday in Margate life changed when war was declared inn September. Every day we were taken by coach to to Perivale Schools where they had space and ample shelter space. There seemed to be no shortage of petrol and we came home for lunch every day although the windows were taped up so we would not be hurt by glass if a bomb fell nearby.
A shelter was supplied to every house and my dad dug a deep hole in the garden and concreterd it in. Then it was covered with earth and a small hole left in the corner which was supposed to let the water out but it never did and some mornings the the floor was under several inches of water.
My dad was trained as a mason but there was little call for this during the war so he worked in a factory making radios for aeroplanes.
Some nights he had to take turns at fire watching and mum and I used to visit him and stay in tne shelter. One night the bombs went off all around us and I remember walking home amongst the smouldering ruins and tripping over the fire hoses.
My brother Alan was born in 1943 and one night the fire wardens told us to leave our home as there were unexploded bombs. We spent the night in a factory shelter and in the morning went to the church hall where the WRVS were serving tea. Once we were allowed home we could see how bad things were. Several houses had been bombed but no one had died. Dad decided it was time we were taken to a safe place and after a medical we went to a school in Hanwell to say our "goodbyes" to Dad. We went by coach to a mainline station and after travelling for some time Mum said the soil is quite red so I think we are going to Devon.
Eventually we reached Barnstaple and were taken to a village hall in Framlington. We stayed in a house there for a few days before being taken by lorry to Bratton Fleming staying with a widower who was very kind to us. He had a pony in the garden and would let me have a ride and when Dad came to visit us he was happy to see we had such a comfortable place after so many weeks spent in the shelters. After eight weeks it seemed the bombing had stopped and we came home. In fact the war was not over and the flying bombs had started, the first one falling in Chiswick not far from us.
Food was in short supply but I do not recall being really hungry. We had few chickens in the garden and I remember going each day to collect potato peelings and cabbage leaves from the neighbours and we would supply them with eggs.
If the sirens went off when the weather was bad and the shelter damp we would sit in the cupboard under the stairs with Mum sitting on a box nursing my brother. Some nights we could hear guns on the railway line firing at the planes. We were near Northolt Aerodrome where many fighter planes were based and airmen came from Canada and were stationed in nearby houses. As kids we could not beleive the wonderful parcels the folks back home sent. Times were still hard in England and even comics were only printed every two weeks because of the paper shortage. We read "Chicks Own" and "Tiny Tots" but had to share and looked forward to the annuals at Christmas.
At last the war came to an end and the flags were put out and we had street parties and it was amazing how everyone produced such tasty food and we had games and dancing in the streets

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