大象传媒

Ten days after my 11th Birthday, war broke out. It was Sunday 11th September at 11 o鈥檆lock in the morning. An announcement on the radio told the country that war had been declared. Almost immediately air raid sirens sounded and an Air Raid Warden ran down our road ringing a hand bell, terrifying people.

I remember our first gas masks being delivered, and trying mine on. It smelled of rubber and made you more aware of how life had changed.

We lived in Harrow, Middlesex. During the Blitz I remember standing at the front door with my Mother and seeing the sky over London lit up by a large red glow. German planes used to drop flares to light up the area. I think they called them baskets.
One particular day I was in the back garden, when a German plane with a black cross on it, flew over a neighbours house. It was so low; I could see the pilot. I think it must have been a reconnaissance plane returning from London. I was frightened by it and immediately ran indoors!

At that time, my mother (Edith Fox) was the first lady station announcer employed at Waterloo Station. She was on the radio programme 鈥淚n Town Tonight鈥� The lady with the golden voice. An article was written about her in two London Newspapers.

During the early years of the war, my two Brothers and I used to go with our friends, to find pieces of shrapnel. We amassed quite a collection. Later, one of my Brothers joined the Royal Navy, even though he could not swim. He is now a proud member of the Russian Convey Club; he has his White beret to prove it. He served on H.M.S. Whimbrel.

As war progressed the Germans launched V1 flying bombs at London. They had a distinctive sound and we used to wait anxiously for the silence as the engine would stop, then a short delay followed by an enormous thud.

During the bombing my Mother and I used to go to the local underground shelter. We took some refreshments with us. The bench seats were very narrow. I doubted whether we would be safe if a direct hit had landed on us.
Some time later, we received our own Morrison Shelter. A Morrison shelter was like a large table approximately 6ft long and 4ft wide. It had a solid steel top and the sides had wire mesh. You had to lift one side off to enter.

In January 1944 I started working at the Admiralty, No.8 Buckingham Gate SW1. It was the training school for Telegraphers, Stenographers, etc. I was training to become a Stenographer (Shorthand typist).
During the day we used to take it in turns, to look out of the window to see if the red flag was hoisted over Westminster Cathedral. This was one of the signals used to advise people of German planes of flying bombs heading towards London. If the flag was there, we had to run down all the flights of stairs banging on the doors, saying 鈥淚mminent danger鈥�. Then everyone went to the basement for safety until we were told it was all clear.

On the 30th June I was at the Admiralty, when a telephone call came through from my father. He asked me to go to straight to my grandmothers鈥� house, as a flying bomb had hit our home in Harrow. I was sent home with another girl who was asked to escort me. We were trying to get a train home and some of the stations were closed. Suddenly we felt the ground shake beneath us. We immediately fell to the ground. A flying bomb had hit the Regent Palace hotel in Piccadilly. It was a Forte hotel.

I was supposed to have gone straight to my grandmother鈥檚 house, but I did not go there. I had to go home.
I found the road cordoned off and our house completely demolished. Our house had suffered a direct hit from the flying bomb.
Earlier that morning I had said goodbye to my mother 鈥� she was the only person left in the house and still I did not know what happened to her.

Our Morrison shelter was in the Sitting room and incredibly, it was the only thing left standing. There was just a dent in the top of it and some rubble in one end of the shelter, which was made up as a bed.
There was no sign of the bath or any other pieces of furniture and the house next door was left with the rear part missing. My mothers fur coat was found hanging in the Almond tree in our front garden.
It was not long before an Aunt came to take me to my grandmother鈥檚 house. Once there, I was told that my mother had been killed. Shortly after arriving at my grandmother鈥檚 house, a Boy Scout arrived to enquire whether there was any news of me? I answered the door and informed him that he was speaking about me. He told me that they did not know where I was and that they had been searching for me in the rubble.
If only my mother had been in the shelter, she would probably have survived. There were six people killed including my mother. Their names are in the book of remembrance in Westminster Abbey. Civilians killed in the Metropolitan area during the 1939-45 war.

In 1945, V.E. marked the end of the war in Europe and I spent the day in London with my elder brother,friends and myself. Thousands of people were celebrating. We were all dancing and singing outside Buckingham Palace where we chanted 鈥淲e want the King鈥�. Then the Royal family and Winston Churchill appeared on the balcony to loud cheering.

Then a few months later it was V.J. day. My friends, my elder brother and I went to St. James park, where we spent the night celebrating.

Although the war had ended, life was traumatic. Like many people, I had lost my mother and my home. My Grandmother was wonderful and I lived with her until I married Harold, a Desert Rat who fought across North Africa and Europe during the war.

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