大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Odilia Roberts from the Derby Action Team on behalf of Colin Webster and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

As a five year old at the outbreak of war my earliest recollections are of school lessons that included gas mask and air raid drill. Teachers organising paper collections, even fetching our fish and chips in basins to save even more paper. When you had collected a certain amount you could go to a party at the old Zion Hall in Long Eaton.

When I was about eight years old my friends and I used to put on shows to raise money for those who had been bombed.

When the Americans arrived we used to supplement our sweet ration by looking for their convoys. They always seemed to get a lorry or tank stuck under the railway bridge at Sawley, which gave us the chance to shout 鈥淎ny gum chum.鈥� You can still see the marks on the bridge. It was at this time my sister鈥檚 (who was 14 years order than me) boyfriend was killed on a bombing raid over Frankfurt, he had gone back from leave without his lucky mascot, a soft toy Scotty dog with the names of the crew on.

My most vivid memory was a V E Day and the street party. Mothers and sisters baking cakes and making sandwiches, everyone bringing out their tables and chairs to make one long one. Us lads making a bonfire on a bit of wasteland next to Horace Holmes, the photographer, house. He stood with a stirrup pump playing on his boundary fence. He couldn鈥檛 have been too mad with us as he made us some fireworks from his chemicals, the fire burnt for five days, mainly because of the railway sleepers we had confiscated.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.