大象传媒

When the war broke out I was twenty three, lived in Ealing in west London and worked in the City. I travelled on the Underground. The trains had fine mesh stuck to the windows with just a small, clear hole in the centre so one could see which station one was at. There was also an automatic system which switched the lights off leaving just a faint blue one in each carriage when the train went up over ground. After a night raid there would be a board at the entrance to the station to say which, if any, stations had been closed and then one would get as far as possible by tube and walk the rest of the way
I remember on one occasion when I walked from Holborn to the office some buildings were still burning. It was remarkable that St. Paul`s was not destroyed. It was some of the quaint little streets in the area which were demolished, one in particular known as Paternoster Row, with all its little bookshops. One day I got as far as Little Britain and but was stopped by the firemen, as Aldergate St. where I worked was closed, but they let me look to see if the offices were still standing, which they were, but had some damage, so I reported to the Broad St. offices and workd there for a while.
Four or five of us girls usually went to a caf茅 or restaurant for lunch and one little caf茅 we favoured was called The Ivy. We had lunched there the day before so expected to so the same on the next day, but when we got there there was just a pile of rubble. Some of the restaurants relied on gas for cooking and when the mains were hit after one night raid it was some weeks before it was fully restored which must have made it very difficult for them to carry on.
Having always lived in London I didn`t realise how much light the stars gave out and how grateful we were for a lovely starlight night, but the moonlight was a different matter as that made it easier for the bombers. My future husband was with the RAF out in Malta from `41 to `44, working in the catacombs in the Photographic Section, and in spite of the siege we were able to communicate by letter and from time to time he could send cables of a few 鈥渃hosen鈥� phrases which was reassuring. When he first arrived he was able to send flowers for birthdays through Interflora.
Rationing of course was part of life and surely the best thing that could have happened, as we all kept remarkably well. We exchanged recipes; one I was given was for a sponge which was fatless and pretty well everything-else-less, but it had a filling that tasted like banana, a fruit we hadn`t seen for years. This was cooked mashed parsnip flavoured with banana essence. Here is the recipe:
Sponge 4 oz SR flour
3 oz sugar
3 teaspoons Golden Raising Powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons dried egg
Mix all the ingredients together with milk and water (beat about 4 or 5 minutes) Bake 10 minutes Regulo 6
Filling Cook 1/2 lb parsnips till tender. Cream 1 oz marg. 1 oz sugar and add to parsnips. Beat well with 1 teaspoonful banana essence or sufficient to taste.
We made jam whenever we could - we had a good blackberry on our fence and everyone shared what produce they had. My father had an allotment too.
My future husband was with the RAF out in Malta from `41 to `44, working in the catacombs in the Photographic Section, and in spite of the siege we were able to communicate by letter and from time to time he could send cables of a few 鈥渃hosen鈥� phrases which was reassuring. When he first arrived he was able to send flowers for birthdays through Interflora.
And so life went on and we tried to make it as normal as possible. The London theatres reopened after a while and the cinemas too and of course there were tennis clubs and such like. The mutual helping out was also a part of life that was very impoertant. Clothing was rationed and there was a coupon system; when I married in 1944 I had enough for a wedding dress but a neighbour I hardly knew offered to lend me a long slip to go under it. White satin shoes were unobtainable and so my father painted some gold evening sandals with white matt paint!

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