大象传媒

Here is my story, or anecdote: I was two years old, or nearly two years old, when I was evacuated with my mother to Bexhill on Sea, from London, Hatch End. It was the beginning of 1945. These are my first memories, and they are very vivid, though they are brief, snatches of scenes.

I remember air raids in London when the pictures wobbled on the walls. In Bexhill we stayed in a boarding house. One day we were walking along the front, beside the sea. I saw a dog being taken for a walk, a dachshund. Of course I reached out to pat the dog and it bit me. My mother took me to the hospital where I was given a rabies injection. I remember screaming and yelling. To pacify me I was handed a purple paper bag, with a single square of chocolate inside. This was wonderful because chocolate was rationed, as was paper; you couldn't get paper bags, and a purple one was very unusual.

Rationing continued for a long time after the war so this memory stayed with me. I also remember eating cheese from tins; and the risk of food poisoning from tins infected with botulism.

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