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Beginning of War as a Student

In September 1939 I was getting ready to start my second year as a student at a Teachers’ Training College in South London. As soon as war was declared, we received notification to stay at home until further notice, and work programmes would be sent by post, to be completed within a given time, and returned to be assessed. You can imagine how grateful I was for the facilities of the libraries in my home town!

When we all returned to College early in the following year, 1940, the dining rooms in our halls or residence were shored up with heavy wooden beams and uprights, which had to be negotiated at mealtimes. This was to be our air raid shelter if ever we were bombed. Blackout curtains had been fitted everywhere, and windows were criss-crossed with wide sellotape to prevent the glass from splintering and scattering.

The rules for night — time were
1) To have an outdoor coat — not just a dressing-gown — on a chair by the study/bedroom door, together with a pair of outdoor shoes, and — most important - your gas mask in it cardboard box.

2) On hearing the air raid warning, put on coat and shoes, pick up gas-mask, and proceed quickly to the dinning room and remain there (under supervision of a Warden, Deputy Warden and Matron in those days!) until the all-clear sounded. After the first experience of a couple of hours sitting on hard dinning chairs, tired and rather bored, many of us had a novel ready in one coat pocket and a small cushion in the other. Personal items were not allowed. They took pot-luck in our rooms. We were very fortunate — the Blitzing of London didn’t begin until long after I had left. Needless to say, nothing got in the way of our final exams, after which we left to await the results and start the teaching jobs for which we had been trained.

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