大象传媒

I was born in 1936 in the inland port of Gloucester, an important railway junction having GWR and LMS maintenance sheds, some heavy industry and aircraft factories, but it was never attacked seriously. The only German aircraft to drop bombs on Gloucester seemed to be those which had had one or two in their bomb racks and were homeward bound along the Severn Valley after attacking Midland towns like Coventry.

My parents died before I was two years old and I lived with my grandparents in Parkend Road, Gloucester. My first vivid recollection of the war was during the Dunkirk evacuation when trains packed with soldiers on the LMS line behind our house, waited and waited for the signals to change. Parts of the LMS fence had been removed and I helped my grandmother to take pots of tea out to the troops. I was showered with small presents and French coins having holes in them and did a great trade in swaps!

I suppose it was in the grounds of Highnam Court at the Newent turn off the main road to Lydney, that hundreds of bell tents were set up to accomodate American soldiers awaiting D Day and it was to there that a friend and I walked and entered the camp. Nobody tried to stop us even though it was off limits. We wandered around for quite a while and were given lots of sweets. A few days later the tanks roared through Gloucester leaving their track marks on Stroud Road at St Paul's church. The marks remained quite a while after the war was over.

On VE day minus two or three, a couple of our chickens were killed, prepared and we all went up to London by GWR to spend a few days with my aunt, uncle and cousin who lived at 99 Queen's Gate, Kensington.

After an early lunch of roast chicken on VE day - a real treat in those days - my aunt dressed me up in fancy clothes to look like John Bull and, along with thousands of others, we made our way to Buckingham Palace where we stood on the steps before the Queen Victoria Memorial chanting, "We want the King." over and over again. Someone told us that the King and Queen came out on the balcony every two hours so we could not have been there for longer but in the heat - wall to wall blue sky I think - it seemed an eternity to me.

I was hoisted to my uncle's shoulders and can still see the King, Queen and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in my mind's eye - I cannot see Churchill even though he may have been there. The crowd went mad!

When we left Buckingham Palace we walked miles through the crush and in Piccadilly Circus it was difficult to even move. There must have been miles of toilet paper streamers thrown from windows in the high buildings! There was found the ubiquitous barrow boy selling party hats etc. He had some of those things that shoot out and make a noise when one blows into them. My uncle told me he had one at home - he hadn't of course (the spiv had wanted half-a-crown for one!) and I pulled his leg for years afterwards for telling me such a porkie!

In the 1970's my wife and I became great friends with a married couple named Les and Joyce on the Isle of Wight. One night after a dinner and dance in an Island hotel, we got round to talking of the war etc. and were all amazed at how close Joyce and I had been on the afternoon of VE Day - she had climbed high up on the Queen Victoria Memorial!

Every time the VE Day London crowds are shown on TV I look for John Bull but he's never there!

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