大象传媒

As a child during the war, I remember walking to school - about one mile - on my own. Sometimes, there was a daytime air raid warning so, on arrival at school, I was told that there was to be no school that day. The only thing for it was to walk back home, usually with the all-clear sounding.
Everyone was issued with a gas-mask. I was very proud of mine as my Dad got me a Mickey Mouse one, which was pink with a floppy pink nose. I carried it to school every day when I started school at the age of five years. We had to keep them near us on the back of our chairs and we had gas-mask practice to see how quickly we could get ours on. It was fun! My twin baby brothers were issued with large gas-masks - big enough to place a baby in. They hated being in them and screamed loudly so they were very rarely used.
Air-raids came mostly at night. My father liked to go into the garden and watch the lights of planes and bombs falling - much to my mother's anxiety. He often found pieces of shrapnel. We were not allowed to show any lights, so black-out curtains and blinds were the order of the day - and enforced by the A.R.P. (Air Raid Patrols).
My family had an Anderson shelter. This was made of corrugated metal and was supposed to be placed in a garden. My father thought we were more likely to use it if it was inside the house, so he built it in the dining room and covered it with sandbags. My younger brother and I slept on bunk beds many nights during the war when bombing was threatened. Our parents and baby brothers joined us during air-raid warnings.
Our area had a VE children's party some weeks after the end of the war. This was held in the Drill Hall where we sat at long trestle tables. Sandwiches and cakes were provided. I didn't enjoy it much as I wasn't with my friends and it all seemed strange. Peacetime didn't seem very different except that there were no air-raids. We still did not get bananas or ice-cream, which I had been told we would see when the war was over. Rationing lasted several years after the war ended and more goods became even scarcer.

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