大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Holly Fuller of Leicestershire Library Services on behalf of Mr Derek Hands and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was born in 1939, so I can鈥檛 remember a lot about the war. I did have a Mickey Mouse gas mask. When you breathed out it blew the ears up. There were also elephant gas masks, which blew the trunk up when you breathed.

Mum and I stayed in Hampstead, with the Pearly Kings and Queens of Hampstead. I can remember the sirens and the barrage balloons and the trump of the shells. Some of the Londoners made me a Mickey Mouse he was 4ft high.

My family and relatives lived in four houses in a row. My Uncle Ernie lived next door. When war was declared he built a shelter for the four houses to share. He was builder so it was a very professional job. It must have been 40ft and ran the width of three gardens.

My mum worked in a shoe factory. While she was at work a Lady from Regent Street used to look after me.

My dad was a sergeant. He was in the Royal Artillery in Hyde Park. Occasionally we were allowed to go and visit him. He took some of the local Londoners for Home Guard and passed one of them out as an officer.

Every month a tea box would arrive with stuff like minorax powdered milk and Farleys rusks in it. My mum used to have to queue for rations, when the box arrived it would go down the queue and people would wait for stuff.

In the summer we used to go to Queensway and pick dandelions from the fields. When we got home we would boil the heads and make dandelion pop.

The lady who ran the naffy was fond of me, so when someone dropped a box of chocolates and it couldn鈥檛 be sold she gave it to me, this was a real treat.

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